Chronic exposure to elevated levels of free fatty acids (FFAs) impairs pancreatic β-cell function and contributes to the decline of insulin secretion in type 2 diabetes. Previously, we reported that FFAs caused increased nitric oxide (NO) production, which damaged mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and ultimately led to apoptosis in INS-1 cells. To firmly establish the link between FFA-generated mtDNA damage and apoptosis, we stably transfected INS-1 cells with an expression vector containing the gene for the DNA repair enzyme human 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase/apurinic lyase (hOGG1) downstream of the mitochondrial targeting sequence (MTS) from manganese superoxide dismutase. Successful integration of MTS-OGG1 into the INS-1 cellular genome was confirmed by Southern blot analysis. Western blots and enzyme activity assays revealed that hOGG1 was targeted to mitochondria and the recombinant enzyme was active. MTS-OGG1 cells showed a significant decrease in FFA-induced mtDNA damage compared with vector-only transfectants. Additionally, hOGG1 overexpression in mitochondria decreased FFA-induced inhibition of ATP production and protected INS-1 cells from apoptosis. These results indicate that mtDNA damage plays a pivotal role in FFA-induced β-cell dysfunction and apoptosis. Therefore, targeting DNA repair enzymes into β-cell mitochondria could be a potential therapeutic strategy for preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes symptoms. © 2006 by the American Diabetes Association.
CITATION STYLE
Rachek, L. I., Thornley, N. P., Grishko, V. I., LeDoux, S. P., & Wilson, G. L. (2006). Protection of INS-1 cells from free fatty acid-induced apoptosis by targeting hOGG1 to mitochondria. Diabetes, 55(4), 1022–1028. https://doi.org/10.2337/diabetes.55.04.06.db05-0865
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