β-cell SENP1 facilitates responsiveness to incretins and limits oral glucose intolerance in high fat fed mice

Abstract

SUMOylation reduces oxidative stress and preserves islet mass; but this happens at the expense of robust insulin secretion. To investigate a role for the deSUMOylating enzyme sentrin-specific protease 1 (SENP1) in glycemia following metabolic stress, we put pancreas/gut-specific SENP1 knockout mice (pSENP1-KO) on an 8-10-week high fat diet (HFD). Male pSENP1-KO mice were more glucose intolerant following HFD than littermate controls, but this was only obvious in response to oral glucose, and a similar but milder phenotype was observed in females. Plasma incretin responses were identical, and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) was equally upregulated after HFD, in pSENP1-KO and - WT littermates. Islet mass was not different, but insulin secretion and {beta}-cell exocytotic responses to Exendin4 (Ex4) and GIP were impaired in islets lacking SENP1. Glucagon secretion from pSENP1-KO islets was also reduced, consistent with the expected SENP1 knockout in all islet cells, so we generated {beta}-cell-specific SENP1 knockout mice ({beta}SENP1-KO). These phenocopied the pSENP1-KO mice with selective impairment in oral glucose tolerance following HFD, preserved islet mass expansion, and impaired {beta}-cell exocytosis and insulin secretion to Ex4 and GIP. Thus, {beta}-cell SENP1 limits glucose intolerance following HFD by ensuring a robust facilitation of insulin secretion by incretins such as GIP.