An Activating Mutation in STAT3 Results in Neonatal Diabetes Through Reduced Insulin Synthesis
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1022 Diabetes Volume 66, April 2017 Teresa Velayos,1 Rosa Martínez,1 Milagros Alonso,2 Koldo Garcia-Etxebarria,3 Anibal Aguayo,1 Cristina Camarero,2 Inés Urrutia,1 Idoia Martínez de LaPiscina,1 Raquel Barrio,2 Izortze Santin,1 and Luis Castaño1 An Activating Mutation in STAT3 Results in Neonatal Diabetes Through Reduced Insulin Synthesis Diabetes 2017;66:1022–1029 | DOI: 10.2337/db16-0867 Neonatal diabetes mellitus (NDM) is a rare form of (1–3). Genetic studies have allowed the identification of diabetes diagnosed within the first 6 months of life. several causal point mutations and chromosomal aberra- Genetic studies have allowed the identification of sev- tions in ;20 genes implicated in b-cell development, glu- eral genes linked to the development of NDM; however, cose sensing and metabolism, membrane depolarization, genetic causes for ∼20% of the cases remain to be clar- and apoptosis (2). The most frequent cases of NDM are ified. Most cases of NDM involve isolated diabetes, but caused by aberrations in chromosome 6q24 and missense sometimes NDM appears in association with other mutations in the KATP channel genes (e.g., KCNJ11, pathological conditions, including autoimmune dis- ABCC8) and the insulin gene, but still, genetic causes of eases. Recent reports have linked activating mutations at least 20% of NDM cases remain to be clarified (3). in STAT3 with early-onset autoimmune disorders that Most cases of NDM involve isolated diabetes, but some- include diabetes of autoimmune origin, but the func- times NDM appears in association with other pathological tional impact of STAT3-activating mutations have not conditions, including early-onset autoimmune diseases been characterized at the pancreatic b-cell level. By us- ing whole-exome sequencing, we identified a novel mis- (4). The most common of these conditions is immunodys- sense mutation in the binding domain of the STAT3 regulation, polyendocrinopathy, enteropathy, X-linked FOXP3 PATHOPHYSIOLOGY protein in a patient with NDM. The functional analyses syndrome, which is caused by mutations in the showed that the mutation results in an aberrant activa- gene (5,6). More recently, activating mutations in the tion of STAT3, leading to deleterious downstream transcription factor STAT3 have been linked to the devel- effects in pancreatic b-cells. The identified mutation opment of early-onset autoimmune disorder and to iso- leads to hyperinhibition of the transcription factor Isl-1 lated permanent NDM with autoimmune etiology (7). and, consequently, to a decrease in insulin expression. STAT3 is a latent transcription factor activated by extra- These findings represent the first functional indication cellular signaling ligands, such as cytokines, growth fac- of a direct link between an NDM-linked activating muta- tors, and hormones (8,9). This transducer becomes tion in STAT3 and pancreatic b-cell dysfunction. activated in the cytoplasm by Janus kinases to regulate diverse biological functions, including cell differentiation, proliferation, apoptosis, and inflammation (8,9). STAT3 Neonatal diabetes mellitus (NDM) is a rare monogenic can act as a transcriptional activator or inhibitor by inter- form of diabetes characterized by the onset of hypergly- acting with other transcription factors and/or coactivators/ cemia within the first 6 months of life (1–3). Although corepressors, depending on the target promoter (10). In one-half of the cases are transient and can eventually re- the pancreas, STAT3 signaling is required for the correct lapse, permanent cases of NDM require lifelong treatment development and maintenance of endocrine pancreas 1Endocrinology and Diabetes Research Group, Hospital Universitario Cruces, Bio- Received 15 July 2016 and accepted 5 January 2017. Cruces Health Research Institute, CIBERDEM, CIBERER, UPV-EHU, Barakaldo, This article contains Supplementary Data online at http://diabetes Spain .diabetesjournals.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.2337/db16-0867/-/DC1. 2Pediatrics Endocrinology, Ramon y Cajal University Hospital, Madrid, Spain © 2017 by the American Diabetes Association. Readers may use this article as 3Immunogenetics Research Laboratory, Department of Genetics, Physical Anthro- long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the pology and Animal Physiology, BioCruces Health Research Institute, UPV-EHU, work is not altered. More information is available at http://www.diabetesjournals.org/ Leioa, Spain content/license. Corresponding author: Luis Castaño, [email protected], and Izortze Santin, [email protected]. diabetes.diabetesjournals.org Velayos and Associates 1023 (11). In addition, leptin-induced activation of STAT3 plays prioritization strategy and excluded all inherited variants a crucial role in inhibiting insulin secretion in mice (12). on the basis of WES of both parents. Evaluation of the We identified by whole-exome sequencing (WES) a possible functional significance of the identified muta- novel activating mutation in the STAT3 gene linked to tions was performed with prediction software, including NDM among other autoimmune pathologies. The func- SIFT, PolyPhen-2, and MutationTaster. The candidate tional data reveal that the identified mutation in STAT3 variant (p.P330S) identified by WES in the STAT3 dysregulates insulin synthesis through inhibition of the gene (NM_139276) was confirmed by Sanger sequencing. transcriptional regulator insulin gene enhancer binding Culture of INS-1E and EndoC-bH Cells and Cytokine protein, factor 1 (Isl-1). Although activating mutations Treatment in STAT3 have been described to lead to early autoimmu- The rat INS-1E cell line was cultured in RPMI medium as nity by impairing T-cell development (13), this functional previously described (16). The same medium but without indication is the first of a direct link between an NDM- antibiotics was used for transfection experiments. The linked activating mutation in STAT3 and pancreatic b-cell EndoC-bH1 cell line (provided by R. Scharfmann, Univer- dysfunction. sity of Paris) was cultured in DMEM as previously de- scribed (17). The same medium but with 1% FBS and RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS without BSA and antibiotics was used for transfection Study Participants and Ethics Statement experiments. INS-1E cells were treated with rat IL-6 For WES, we selected a female patient with NDM with (R&D Systems, Abingdon, U.K.) at a concentration of detectable islet autoantibodies at the age of 3 months. 20 ng/mL for 12 h. This patient, whose clinical case has been previously Expression Plasmids described (14), presented neonatal hypothyroidism with Expression plasmid with the identified mutation (P330S) positive thyroid autoantibodies at birth. Watery diarrhea was generated by using an overexpression plasmid con- developed in the patient at the age of 13 months, and she taining the wild-type (WT) STAT3 cDNA (OriGene Tech- was given a diagnosis of celiac disease (positive gliadin nologies, Rockville, MD), and mutation was introduced by autoantibodies and partial duodenal atrophy). Her subse- using the QuikChange II Site-Directed Mutagenesis Kit quent course was frequently marked by episodes of watery (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA). diarrhea without blood or mucous. The celiac disease di- agnosis was corrected to collagenous gastritis and colitis Transfection Experiments and Luciferase at the age of 15 years. The patient had an appropriate Reporter Assay growth rate until age 4 years that remarkably decreased Empty, WT, or mutant STAT3 plasmids were transfected over time, with a final height SD score of 23. Initial ge- into INS-1E or EndoC-bH1 cells by using Lipofectamine netic testing by Sanger sequencing excluded potential 2000 lipid reagent (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Chicago, IL) damaging mutations in the KCNJ11, ABCC8, and INS (18). For STAT3 luciferase studies, INS-1E cells were genes. Genomic DNA of the patient was extracted from cotransfected with 200 ng STAT3-responsive dual firefly/ whole blood by using the QIAamp DNA Blood Mini Kit Renilla luciferase Cignal Reporter (QIAGEN). After 24 h, (QIAGEN, Hilden, Germany). The study was approved by cells were left untreated or treated with IL-6 (20 ng/mL) the local ethics committee (Cruces University Hospital, for 12 h, and luciferase activities were assayed by using Barakaldo, Spain), and written informed consent was the Dual-Luciferase Reporter Assay System (Promega, obtained from the patient’s parents. Madison, WI). WES Western Blot and Real-Time PCR Exome enrichment was carried out by using the Nextera Rapid Protein expression was evaluated by Western blot by Capture Expanded Exome Enrichment kit followed by high- using antibodies that target total STAT3 (sc-482; Santa throughput next-generation sequencing in a HiScanSQ (Illumina, Cruz Biotechnologies, Dallas, TX), phospho-STAT3 San Diego, CA) to generate WES in 75-base pair (bp) paired-end (#9507; Cell Signaling, Danvers, MA), Isl-1 (sc-390793; reads. Sequence reads were mapped to the reference human Santa Cruz Biotechnologies), insulin (#8138; Cell Signal- genome (UCSC GRCh37/hg19) by using the WES pipeline ing), and a-tubulin (T9026; Sigma-Aldrich) (used as load- Web tool (15). The same Web tool was used for duplicate ing control). Immunoreactive bands were revealed by removal, base quality recalibrations, single nucleotide using the SuperSignal West Femto chemiluminescent sub- polymorphism (SNP) and deletion/insertion polymor- strate (Thermo Fisher Scientific) and detected by using a phism calling, and annotation.