Chronic effects of palmitate overload on nutrient-induced insulin secretion and autocrine signalling in pancreatic MIN6 beta cells.

<h4>Background</h4>Sustained exposure of pancreatic β cells to an increase in saturated fatty acids induces pleiotropic effects on β-cell function, including a reduction in stimulus-induced insulin secretion. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of chronic over supp...

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Main Authors: Maria L Watson, Katherine Macrae, Anna E Marley, Harinder S Hundal
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0025975&type=printable
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Summary:<h4>Background</h4>Sustained exposure of pancreatic β cells to an increase in saturated fatty acids induces pleiotropic effects on β-cell function, including a reduction in stimulus-induced insulin secretion. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of chronic over supply of palmitate upon glucose- and amino acid-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS and AASIS, respectively) and autocrine-dependent insulin signalling with particular focus on the importance of ceramide, ERK and CaMKII signalling.<h4>Principal findings</h4>GSIS and AASIS were both stimulated by >7-fold resulting in autocrine-dependent activation of protein kinase B (PKB, also known as Akt). Insulin release was dependent upon nutrient-induced activation of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) as their pharmacological inhibition suppressed GSIS/AASIS significantly. Chronic (48 h, 0.4 mM) palmitate treatment blunted glucose/AA-induced activation of CaMKII and ERK and caused a concomitant reduction (~75%) in GSIS/AASIS and autocrine-dependent activation of PKB. This inhibition could not be attributed to enhanced mitochondrial fatty acid uptake/oxidation or ceramide synthesis, which were unaffected by palmitate. In contrast, diacylglycerol synthesis was elevated suggesting increased palmitate esterification rather than oxidation may contribute to impaired stimulus-secretion coupling. Consistent with this, 2-bromopalmitate, a non-oxidisable palmitate analogue, inhibited GSIS as effectively as palmitate.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Our results exclude changes in ceramide content or mitochondrial fatty acid handling as factors initiating palmitate-induced defects in insulin release from MIN6 β cells, but suggest that reduced CaMKII and ERK activation associated with palmitate overload may contribute to impaired stimulus-induced insulin secretion.
ISSN:1932-6203