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Ibrahim H, Balboa D, Saarimäki-Vire J, Montaser H, Dyachok O, Lund PE, Omar-Hmeadi M, Kvist J, Dwivedi OP, Lithovius V, Barsby T, Chandra V, Eurola S, Ustinov J, Tuomi T, Miettinen PJ, Barg S, Tengholm A, Otonkoski T. RFX6 haploinsufficiency predisposes to diabetes through impaired beta cell function. Diabetologia 2024:10.1007/s00125-024-06163-y. [PMID: 38743124 DOI: 10.1007/s00125-024-06163-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
AIMS/HYPOTHESIS Regulatory factor X 6 (RFX6) is crucial for pancreatic endocrine development and differentiation. The RFX6 variant p.His293LeufsTer7 is significantly enriched in the Finnish population, with almost 1:250 individuals as a carrier. Importantly, the FinnGen study indicates a high predisposition for heterozygous carriers to develop type 2 and gestational diabetes. However, the precise mechanism of this predisposition remains unknown. METHODS To understand the role of this variant in beta cell development and function, we used CRISPR technology to generate allelic series of pluripotent stem cells. We created two isogenic stem cell models: a human embryonic stem cell model; and a patient-derived stem cell model. Both were differentiated into pancreatic islet lineages (stem-cell-derived islets, SC-islets), followed by implantation in immunocompromised NOD-SCID-Gamma mice. RESULTS Stem cell models of the homozygous variant RFX6-/- predictably failed to generate insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cells, mirroring the phenotype observed in Mitchell-Riley syndrome. Notably, at the pancreatic endocrine stage, there was an upregulation of precursor markers NEUROG3 and SOX9, accompanied by increased apoptosis. Intriguingly, heterozygous RFX6+/- SC-islets exhibited RFX6 haploinsufficiency (54.2% reduction in protein expression), associated with reduced beta cell maturation markers, altered calcium signalling and impaired insulin secretion (62% and 54% reduction in basal and high glucose conditions, respectively). However, RFX6 haploinsufficiency did not have an impact on beta cell number or insulin content. The reduced insulin secretion persisted after in vivo implantation in mice, aligning with the increased risk of variant carriers to develop diabetes. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION Our allelic series isogenic SC-islet models represent a powerful tool to elucidate specific aetiologies of diabetes in humans, enabling the sensitive detection of aberrations in both beta cell development and function. We highlight the critical role of RFX6 in augmenting and maintaining the pancreatic progenitor pool, with an endocrine roadblock and increased cell death upon its loss. We demonstrate that RFX6 haploinsufficiency does not affect beta cell number or insulin content but does impair function, predisposing heterozygous carriers of loss-of-function variants to diabetes. DATA AVAILABILITY Ultra-deep bulk RNA-seq data for pancreatic differentiation stages 3, 5 and 7 of H1 RFX6 genotypes are deposited in the Gene Expression Omnibus database with accession code GSE234289. Original western blot images are deposited at Mendeley ( https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/g75drr3mgw/2 ).
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Affiliation(s)
- Hazem Ibrahim
- Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
| | - Diego Balboa
- Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jonna Saarimäki-Vire
- Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Hossam Montaser
- Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Oleg Dyachok
- Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Per-Eric Lund
- Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | - Jouni Kvist
- Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Om P Dwivedi
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, FIMM, HiLIFE, Helsinki, Finland
- Research Program of Clinical and Molecular Metabolism, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Väinö Lithovius
- Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tom Barsby
- Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Vikash Chandra
- Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Solja Eurola
- Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jarkko Ustinov
- Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tiinamaija Tuomi
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, FIMM, HiLIFE, Helsinki, Finland
- Research Program of Clinical and Molecular Metabolism, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Folkhälsan Research Center, Biomedicum Helsinki, Finland
- Abdominal Center, Endocrinology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
- Lund University Diabetes Centre, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Päivi J Miettinen
- Department of Pediatrics, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sebastian Barg
- Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Anders Tengholm
- Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Timo Otonkoski
- Stem Cells and Metabolism Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
- Department of Pediatrics, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
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Elashi AA, Toor SM, Diboun I, Al-Sarraj Y, Taheri S, Suhre K, Abou-Samra AB, Albagha OME. The Genetic Spectrum of Maturity-Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY) in Qatar, a Population-Based Study. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 24:ijms24010130. [PMID: 36613572 PMCID: PMC9820507 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24010130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Revised: 12/09/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) is a rare monogenic form of diabetes mellitus. In this study, we estimated the prevalence and genetic spectrum of MODY in the Middle Eastern population of Qatar using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of 14,364 subjects from the population-based Qatar biobank (QBB) cohort. We focused our investigations on 14 previously identified genes ascribed to the cause of MODY and two potentially novel MODY-causing genes, RFX6 and NKX6-1. Genetic variations within the 16 MODY-related genes were assessed for their pathogenicity to identify disease-causing mutations. Analysis of QBB phenotype data revealed 72 subjects (0.5%) with type 1 diabetes, 2915 subjects (20.3%) with type 2 diabetes and 11,377 (79.2%) without diabetes. We identified 22 mutations in 67 subjects that were previously reported in the Human Genetic Mutation Database (HGMD) as disease-causing (DM) or likely disease causing (DM?) for MODY. We also identified 28 potentially novel MODY-causing mutations, predicted to be among the top 1% most deleterious mutations in the human genome, which showed complete (100%) disease penetrance in 34 subjects. Overall, we estimated that MODY accounts for around 2.2-3.4% of diabetes patients in Qatar. This is the first population-based study to determine the genetic spectrum and estimate the prevalence of MODY in the Middle East. Further research to characterize the newly identified mutations is warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asma A. Elashi
- College of Health and Life Sciences (CHLS), Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar Foundation (QF), Doha P.O. Box 34110, Qatar
| | - Salman M. Toor
- College of Health and Life Sciences (CHLS), Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar Foundation (QF), Doha P.O. Box 34110, Qatar
| | - Ilhame Diboun
- College of Health and Life Sciences (CHLS), Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar Foundation (QF), Doha P.O. Box 34110, Qatar
- Medical and Population Genomics Lab, Sidra Medicine, Doha P.O. Box 26999, Qatar
| | - Yasser Al-Sarraj
- Qatar Genome Program (QGP), Qatar Foundation Research, Development and Innovation, Qatar Foundation (QF), Doha P.O. Box 5825, Qatar
| | - Shahrad Taheri
- Qatar Metabolic Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha P.O. Box 3050, Qatar
| | - Karsten Suhre
- Bioinformatics Core, Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Education City, Doha P.O. Box 24144, Qatar
- Department of Biophysics and Physiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | | | - Omar M. E. Albagha
- College of Health and Life Sciences (CHLS), Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar Foundation (QF), Doha P.O. Box 34110, Qatar
- Centre for Genomic and Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +974-4454-2974
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Nomura N, Iizuka K, Goshima E, Hosomichi K, Tajima A, Kubota S, Liu Y, Takao K, Kato T, Mizuno M, Hirota T, Suwa T, Horikawa Y, Yabe D. Glucokinase-maturity onset diabetes mellitus in the young suggested by factory-calibrated glucose monitoring data: a case report. Endocr J 2022; 69:473-477. [PMID: 34803122 DOI: 10.1507/endocrj.ej21-0526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Glucokinase has an important role in regulating glycolysis as a glucose sensor in liver and pancreatic β cells. Glucokinase-maturity onset diabetes in young (GCK-MODY also known as MODY2) is caused by autosomal dominant gene mutation of the GCK gene; it is characterized by mild fasting hyperglycemia and small 2-h glucose increment during 75 g-oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) as well as near-normal postprandial glucose variabilities. A 10-year-old girl with family history of diabetes visited her physician after being found positive for urinary glucose by school medical checkup. She received a diagnosis of diabetes based on the laboratory data: 75 g-OGTT (mild fasting hyperglycemia and small 2-h glucose increment) and factory-calibrated glucose monitoring (mild elevation of average glucose level and near-normal glycemic variability), which raised suspicion of GCK-MODY. She was then referred to our institution for genetic examination, which revealed a GCK heterozygous mutation (NM_000162: exon10: c.1324G>T: p.E442X) in the proband as well as in her mother and maternal grandmother, who had been receiving anti-diabetes medications without knowing that they had GCK-MODY specifically. GCK-MODY cases show incidence of microvascular and macrovascular diseases similar to that of normal subjects, and their glucose levels are adequately controlled without anti-diabetes drug use. Thus, early and definitive diagnosis of MODY2 by genetic testing is important to avoid unnecessary medication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nao Nomura
- Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism/Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
| | - Katsumi Iizuka
- Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism/Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
- Department of Clinical Nutrition, School of Medicine, Fujita Health University, Aichi, Japan
- Yutaka Seino Distinguished Center for Diabetes Research, Kansai Electric Power Medical Research Institution, Hyogo, Japan
| | | | - Kazuyoshi Hosomichi
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, Graduate School of Advanced Preventive Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University, Ishikawa, Japan
| | - Atsushi Tajima
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, Graduate School of Advanced Preventive Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University, Ishikawa, Japan
| | - Sodai Kubota
- Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism/Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
- Yutaka Seino Distinguished Center for Diabetes Research, Kansai Electric Power Medical Research Institution, Hyogo, Japan
| | - Yanyan Liu
- Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism/Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
| | - Ken Takao
- Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism/Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
| | - Takehiro Kato
- Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism/Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
| | - Masami Mizuno
- Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism/Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
| | - Takuo Hirota
- Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism/Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
| | - Tetsuya Suwa
- Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism/Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
| | - Yukio Horikawa
- Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism/Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
| | - Daisuke Yabe
- Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism/Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan
- Yutaka Seino Distinguished Center for Diabetes Research, Kansai Electric Power Medical Research Institution, Hyogo, Japan
- Division of Molecular and Metabolic Medicine, Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan
- Center for Healthcare Information Technology, Tokai National Higher Education and Research System, Aichi, Japan
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