Peroxiredoxin III protects pancreatic ß cells from apoptosis

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is characterized by a progressive autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing β cells. Macrophages and T lymphocytes release cytokines, which induce the synthesis of oxygen and nitrogen radicals in the pancreatic islets. The resulting cellular and mitochondrial damage promotes β cell death. β cells are very sensitive to the autoimmune free radical-dependent attack due to their low content of antioxidant enzymes such as glutathione peroxidase and catalase. A focal point of β cell protection should be the control of the mitochondrial redox status, which will result in the preservation of metabolic stimulus-secretion coupling. For this reason, there is a considerable interest in the mitochondrial peroxiredoxin III (PRX III), a thioredoxin-dependent peroxide reductase, which was shown to be able to protect against both oxidative and nitrosative stress. Using the Tet-On-system, we generated stably transfected rat insulinoma cells over- or under-expressing PRX III in a doxycyclin-dependent manner to analyze the effect of increased or decreased amounts of cellular PRX III, following treatment with several stressors. We provide evidence that PRX III protects pancreatic β cells from cell stress induced by accumulation of hydrogen peroxide, or the induction of inducible nitric oxide synthase or caspase-9 and -3 by pro-inflammatory cytokines or streptozotocin. Basal insulin secretion was markedly decreased in cells expressing lower levels of PRX III. We suggest PRX III may be a suitable target for promoting deceleration or even prevention of stress-associated apoptosis in pancreatic β cells and the manifestation of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.