Pleckstrin homology-like domain family A, member 3 (PHLDA3) deficiency improves islets engraftment through the suppression of hypoxic damage

PLoS One. 2017 Nov 9;12(11):e0187927. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187927. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Islet transplantation is a useful cell replacement therapy that can restore the glycometabolic function of severe diabetic patients. It is known that many transplanted islets failed to engraft, and thus, new approaches for overcoming graft loss that may improve the outcome of future clinical islet transplantations are necessary. Pleckstrin homology-like domain family A, member 3 (PHLDA3) is a known suppressor of neuroendocrine tumorigenicity, yet deficiency of this gene increases islet proliferation, prevents islet apoptosis, and improves their insulin-releasing function without causing tumors. In this study, we examined the potential use of PHLDA3-deficient islets in transplantation. We observed that: 1) transplanting PHLDA3-deficient islets into diabetic mice significantly improved their glycometabolic condition, 2) the improved engraftment of PHLDA3-deficient islets resulted from increased cell survival during early transplantation, and 3) Akt activity was elevated in PHLDA3-deficient islets, especially under hypoxic conditions. Thus, we determined that PHLDA3-deficient islets are more resistant against stresses induced by islet isolation and transplantation. We conclude that use of islets with suppressed PHLDA3 expression could be a novel and promising treatment for improving engraftment and consequent glycemic control in islet transplantation.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Hypoxia
  • Cell Survival
  • Cells, Cultured
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / metabolism
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / therapy*
  • Insulin / metabolism*
  • Insulin Secretion
  • Islets of Langerhans / cytology*
  • Islets of Langerhans / metabolism
  • Islets of Langerhans Transplantation
  • Mice
  • Nuclear Proteins / deficiency*
  • Nuclear Proteins / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / metabolism

Substances

  • Insulin
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • TSSC3 protein
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt

Grants and funding

This study was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (26462053, NS) and Grant-in-Aid for Encouragement of Young Scientists (B) (15K19869, NS), Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (#26430133) (R.O.) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, Applied Research for Innovative Treatment of Cancer from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (R.O.), Cooperative Research Program of Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Japan (to R.O.); URL: https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/ja/grant/KAKENHI-PROJECT-26462053/, https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/ja/grant/KAKENHI-PROJECT-15K19869/, https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/ja/grant/KAKENHI-PROJECT-26430133/.