Limited role for SREBP-1c in defective glucose-induced insulin secretion from Zucker diabetic fatty rat islets: a functional and gene profiling analysis

Accumulation of intracellular lipid may contribute to defective insulin secretion in type 2 diabetes. Although Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF; fa/fa) rat islets are fat-laden and overexpress the lipogenic master gene, sterol regulatory element binding protein 1c (SREBP-1c), the contribution of SREBP-1c to the secretory defects observed in this model remains unclear. Here we compare the gene expression profile of lean control (fa/+) and ZDF rat islets in the absence or presence of dominant-negative SREBP-1c (SREBP-1c DN). ZDF islets displayed elevated basal insulin secretion at 3 mmol/l glucose but a severely depressed response to 17 mmol/l glucose. While SREBP-1c DN reduced basal insulin secretion from ZDF islets, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion was not improved. Of 57 genes differentially regulated in ZDF islets and implicated in glucose metabolism, vesicle trafficking, ion fluxes, and/or exocytosis, 21 were upregulated and 5 were suppressed by SREBP-1c DN. Genes underrepresented in ZDF islets were either unaffected (Glut-2, Kir6.2, Rab3), stimulated (voltage-dependent Ca2+ channel subunit alpha 1D, CPT2, SUR2, rab9, syt13), or inhibited (syntaxin 7, secretogranin-2) by SREBP-1c inhibition. Correspondingly, SREBP-1c DN largely corrected decreases in the expression of the transcription factors Pdx-1 and MafA but did not affect the abnormalities in Pax6, Arx, hepatic nuclear factor-1 alpha (HNF1 alpha), HNF3 beta/Forkhead box-a2 (Foxa2), inducible cyclic AMP early repressor (ICER), or transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) expression observed in ZDF islets. We conclude that upregulation of SREBP-1c and mild increases in triglyceride content do not explain defective glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from ZDF rats. However, overexpression of SREBP-1c may contribute to enhanced basal insulin secretion in this model.