SNAP23 depletion enables more SNAP25/calcium channel excitosome formation to increase insulin exocytosis in type 2 diabetes

SNAP23 is the ubiquitous SNAP25 isoform that mediates secretion in non-neuronal cells, similar to SNAP25 in neurons. However, some secretory cells like pancreatic islet β cells contain an abundance of both SNAP25 and SNAP23, where SNAP23 is believed to play a redundant role to SNAP25. We show that SNAP23, when depleted in mouse β cells in vivo and human β cells (normal and type 2 diabetes [T2D] patients) in vitro, paradoxically increased biphasic glucose-stimulated insulin secretion corresponding to increased exocytosis of predocked and newcomer insulin granules. Such effects on T2D Goto-Kakizaki rats improved glucose homeostasis that was superior to conventional treatment with sulfonylurea glybenclamide. SNAP23, although fusion competent in slower secretory cells, in the context of β cells acts as a weak partial fusion agonist or inhibitory SNARE. Here, SNAP23 depletion promotes SNAP25 to bind calcium channels more quickly and longer where granule fusion occurs to increase exocytosis efficiency. β Cell SNAP23 antagonism is a strategy to treat diabetes.

A glucose-dependent spatial patterning of exocytosis in human β-cells is disrupted in type 2 diabetes

Impaired insulin secretion in type 2 diabetes (T2D) is linked to reduced insulin granule docking, disorganization of the exocytotic site, and an impaired glucose-dependent facilitation of insulin exocytosis. We show in β-cells from 80 human donors that the glucose-dependent amplification of exocytosis is disrupted in T2D. Spatial analyses of granule fusion, visualized by total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy in 24 of these donors, demonstrate that these are non-random across the surface of β-cells from donors with no diabetes (ND). The compartmentalization of events occurs within regions defined by concurrent or recent membrane-resident secretory granules. This organization, and the number of membrane-associated granules, is glucose-dependent and notably impaired in T2D β-cells. Mechanistically, multi-channel Kv2.1 clusters contribute to maintaining the density of membrane-resident granules and the number of fusion 'hotspots', while SUMOylation sites at the channel N- (K145) and C-terminus (K470) determine the relative proportion of fusion events occurring within these regions. Thus, a glucose-dependent compartmentalization of fusion, regulated in part by a structural role for Kv2.1, is disrupted in β-cells from donors with type 2 diabetes.

Pancreatitis-Induced Depletion of Syntaxin 2 Promotes Autophagy and Increases Basolateral Exocytosis

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Pancreatic acinar cells are polarized epithelial cells that store enzymes required for digestion as inactive zymogens, tightly packed at the cell apex. Stimulation of acinar cells causes the zymogen granules to fuse with the apical membrane, and the cells undergo exocytosis to release proteases into the intestinal lumen. Autophagy maintains homeostasis of pancreatic acini. Syntaxin 2 (STX2), an abundant soluble N-ethyl maleimide sensitive factor attachment protein receptor in pancreatic acini, has been reported to mediate apical exocytosis. Using human pancreatic tissues and STX2-knockout (KO) mice, we investigated the functions of STX2 in zymogen granule-mediated exocytosis and autophagy.

METHODS

We obtained pancreatic tissues from 5 patients undergoing surgery for pancreatic cancer and prepared 80-μm slices; tissues were exposed to supramaximal cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8) or ethanol and a low concentration of CCK-8 and analyzed by immunoblot and immunofluorescence analyses. STX2-KO mice and syntaxin 2^+/+ C57BL6 mice (controls) were given intraperitoneal injections of supramaximal caerulein (a CCK-8 analogue) or fed ethanol and then given a low dose of caerulein to induce acute pancreatitis, or saline (controls); pancreata were isolated and analyzed by histology and immunohistochemistry. Acini were isolated from mice, incubated with CCK-8, and analyzed by immunofluorescence microscopy or used in immunoprecipitation experiments. Exocytosis was quantified using live-cell exocytosis and Ca²⁺ imaging analyses and based on formation of exocytotic soluble N-ethyl maleimide sensitive factor attachment protein receptor complexes. Dysregulations in autophagy were identified using markers, electron and immunofluorescence microscopy, and protease activation assays.

RESULTS

Human pancreatic tissues and dispersed pancreatic acini from control mice exposed to CCK-8 or ethanol plus CCK-8 were depleted of STX2. STX2-KO developed more severe pancreatitis after administration of supramaximal caerulein or a 6-week ethanol diet compared with control. Acini from STX2-KO mice had increased apical exocytosis after exposure to CCK-8, as well as increased basolateral exocytosis, which led to ectopic release of proteases. These increases in apical and basolateral exocytosis required increased formation of fusogenic soluble N-ethyl maleimide sensitive factor attachment protein receptor complexes, mediated by STX3 and STX4. STX2 bound ATG16L1 and prevented it from binding clathrin. Deletion of STX2 from acini increased binding of AT16L1 to clathrin, increasing formation of pre-autophagosomes and inducing autophagy. Induction of autophagy promoted the CCK-8-induced increase in autolysosome formation and the activation of trypsinogen.

CONCLUSIONS

In studies of human pancreatic tissues and pancreata from STX2-KO and control mice, we found STX2 to block STX3- and STX4-mediated fusion of zymogen granules with the plasma membrane and exocytosis and prevent binding of ATG16L1 to clathrin, which contributes to induction of autophagy. Exposure of pancreatic tissues to CCK-8 or ethanol depletes acinar cells of STX2, increasing basolateral exocytosis and promoting autophagy induction, leading to activation of trypsinogen.

Kv2.1 clusters on β-cell plasma membrane act as reservoirs that replenish pools of newcomer insulin granule through their interaction with syntaxin-3

The voltage-dependent K⁺ (K_v) channel K_v2.1 is a major delayed rectifier in many secretory cells, including pancreatic β cells. In addition, K_v2.1 has a direct role in exocytosis at an undefined step, involving SNARE proteins, that is independent of its ion-conducting pore function. Here, we elucidated the precise step in exocytosis. We previously reported that syntaxin-3 (Syn-3) is the key syntaxin that mediates exocytosis of newcomer secretory granules that spend minimal residence time on the plasma membrane before fusion. Using high-resolution total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, we now show that K_v2.1 forms reservoir clusters on the β-cell plasma membrane and binds Syn-3 via its C-terminal C1b domain, which recruits newcomer insulin secretory granules into this large reservoir. Upon glucose stimulation, secretory granules were released from this reservoir to replenish the pool of newcomer secretory granules for subsequent fusion, occurring just adjacent to the plasma membrane K_v2.1 clusters. C1b deletion blocked the aforementioned K_v2.1-Syn-3-mediated events and reduced fusion of newcomer secretory granules. These insights have therapeutic implications, as K_v2.1 overexpression in type-2 diabetes rat islets restored biphasic insulin secretion.

Kv2.1 Clustering Contributes to Insulin Exocytosis and Rescues Human β-Cell Dysfunction

Insulin exocytosis is regulated by ion channels that control excitability and Ca²⁺ influx. Channels also play an increasingly appreciated role in microdomain structure. In this study, we examine the mechanism by which the voltage-dependent K⁺ (Kv) channel Kv2.1 (KCNB1) facilitates depolarization-induced exocytosis in INS 832/13 cells and β-cells from human donors with and without type 2 diabetes (T2D). We find that Kv2.1, but not Kv2.2 (KCNB2), forms clusters of 6-12 tetrameric channels at the plasma membrane and facilitates insulin exocytosis. Knockdown of Kv2.1 expression reduces secretory granule targeting to the plasma membrane. Expression of the full-length channel (Kv2.1-wild-type) supports the glucose-dependent recruitment of secretory granules. However, a truncated channel (Kv2.1-ΔC318) that retains electrical function and syntaxin 1A binding, but lacks the ability to form clusters, does not enhance granule recruitment or exocytosis. Expression of KCNB1 appears reduced in T2D islets, and further knockdown of KCNB1 does not inhibit Kv current in T2D β-cells. Upregulation of Kv2.1-wild-type, but not Kv2.1-ΔC318, rescues the exocytotic phenotype in T2D β-cells and increases insulin secretion from T2D islets. Thus, the ability of Kv2.1 to directly facilitate insulin exocytosis depends on channel clustering. Loss of this structural role for the channel might contribute to impaired insulin secretion in diabetes.

Tracking Ca2+-dependent and Ca2+-independent conformational transitions in syntaxin 1A during exocytosis in neuroendocrine cells

A key issue for understanding exocytosis is elucidating the various protein interactions and the associated conformational transitions underlying soluble N-ethylmeleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) protein assembly. To monitor dynamic changes in syntaxin 1A (Syx) conformation along exocytosis, we constructed a novel fluorescent Syx-based probe that can be efficiently incorporated within endogenous SNARE complexes, support exocytosis, and report shifts in Syx between 'closed' and 'open' conformations by fluorescence resonance energy transfer analysis. Using this probe we resolve two distinct Syx conformational transitions during membrane depolarization-induced exocytosis in PC12 cells: a partial 'opening' in the absence of Ca(2+) entry and an additional 'opening' upon Ca(2+) entry. The Ca(2+)-dependent transition is abolished upon neutralization of the basic charges in the juxtamembrane regions of Syx, which also impairs exocytosis. These novel findings provide evidence of two conformational transitions in Syx during exocytosis, which have not been reported before: one transition directly induced by depolarization and an additional transition that involves the juxtamembrane region of Syx. The superior sensitivity of our probe also enabled detection of subtle Syx conformational changes upon interaction with VAMP2, which were absolutely dependent on the basic charges of the juxtamembrane region. Hence, our results further suggest that the Ca(2+)-dependent transition in Syx involves zippering between the membrane-proximal juxtamembrane regions of Syx and VAMP2 and support the recently implied existence of this zippering in the final phase of SNARE assembly to catalyze exocytosis.