Glucose-mediated repression of menin promotes pancreatic β-cell proliferation

H Zhang, W Li, Q Wang, X Wang, F Li, C Zhang… - …, 2012 - academic.oup.com
H Zhang, W Li, Q Wang, X Wang, F Li, C Zhang, L Wu, H Long, Y Liu, X Li, M Luo, G Li…
Endocrinology, 2012academic.oup.com
Menin, encoded by the Men1 gene, is responsible for β-cell tumor formation in patients with
multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1. Recently, menin has been proven to negatively
regulate β-cell proliferation during pregnancy. However, it is unclear whether menin is
involved in pancreatic β-cell proliferation in response to other physiological replication
stimuli, such as glucose. In this study, we found that the menin level was significantly
reduced in high glucose-treated INS1 cells and primary rat islets, both with increased …
Menin, encoded by the Men1 gene, is responsible for β-cell tumor formation in patients with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1. Recently, menin has been proven to negatively regulate β-cell proliferation during pregnancy. However, it is unclear whether menin is involved in pancreatic β-cell proliferation in response to other physiological replication stimuli, such as glucose. In this study, we found that the menin level was significantly reduced in high glucose-treated INS1 cells and primary rat islets, both with increased proliferation. A similar observation was found in islets isolated from rats subjected to 72-h continuous glucose infusion. The glucose-induced proliferation was inhibited by menin overexpression. Further molecular studies showed that glucose-induced menin suppression was blocked by PI3K/Akt pathway inhibitors. A major PI3K/Akt substrate, Foxo1, was shown to enhance menin transcription levels by binding the promoter region of the Men1 gene. Therefore, we conclude that glucose inhibits menin expression via the PI3K/Akt/Foxo1 pathway and hence promotes pancreatic β-cell proliferation. Our study suggests that menin might serve as an important intracellular target of glucose to mediate the mitogenic effect that glucose exerts in pancreatic β-cells.
Oxford University Press