Oligonucleotide microarray analysis reveals PDX1 as an essential regulator of mitochondrial metabolism in rat islets

Mutations in the transcription factor IPF1/PDX1 have been associated with type 2 diabetes. To elucidate beta-cell dysfunction, PDX1 was suppressed by transduction of rat islets with an adenoviral construct encoding a dominant negative form of PDX1. After 2 days, there was a marked inhibition of insulin secretion in response to glucose, leucine, and arginine. Increasing cAMP levels with forskolin and isobutylmethylxanthine restored glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, indicating normal capacity for exocytosis. To identify molecular targets implicated in the altered metabolism secretion coupling, DNA microarray analysis was performed on PDX1-deficient and control islets. Of the 2640 detected transcripts, 70 were up-regulated and 56 were down-regulated. Transcripts were subdivided into 12 clusters; the most prevalent were associated with metabolism. Quantitative reverse transcriptase-PCR confirmed increases in succinate dehydrogenase and ATP synthase mRNAs as well as pyruvate carboxylase and the transcript for the malate shuttle. In parallel there was a 50% reduction in mRNA levels for the mitochondrially encoded nd1 gene, a subunit of the NADH dehydrogenase comprising complex I of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. As a consequence, total cellular ATP concentration was drastically decreased by 75%, and glucose failed to augment cytosolic ATP, explaining the blunted glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Rotenone, an inhibitor of complex I, mimicked this effect. Surprisingly, TFAM, a nuclear-encoded transcription factor important for sustaining expression of mitochondrial genes, was down-regulated in islets expressing DN79PDX1. In conclusion, loss of PDX1 function alters expression of mitochondrially encoded genes through regulation of TFAM leading to impaired insulin secretion.