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12-Lipoxygenase governs the innate immune pathogenesis of islet inflammation and autoimmune diabetes
Abhishek Kulkarni, Annie R. Pineros, Melissa A. Walsh, Isabel Casimiro, Sara Ibrahim, Marimar Hernandez-Perez, Kara S. Orr, Lindsey Glenn, Jerry L. Nadler, Margaret A. Morris, Sarah A. Tersey, Raghavendra G. Mirmira, Ryan M. Anderson
Abhishek Kulkarni, Annie R. Pineros, Melissa A. Walsh, Isabel Casimiro, Sara Ibrahim, Marimar Hernandez-Perez, Kara S. Orr, Lindsey Glenn, Jerry L. Nadler, Margaret A. Morris, Sarah A. Tersey, Raghavendra G. Mirmira, Ryan M. Anderson
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Research Article Endocrinology

12-Lipoxygenase governs the innate immune pathogenesis of islet inflammation and autoimmune diabetes

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Abstract

Macrophages and related myeloid cells are innate immune cells that participate in the early islet inflammation of type 1 diabetes (T1D). The enzyme 12-lipoxygenase (12-LOX) catalyzes the formation of proinflammatory eicosanoids, but its role and mechanisms in myeloid cells in the pathogenesis of islet inflammation have not been elucidated. Leveraging a model of islet inflammation in zebrafish, we show here that macrophages contribute significantly to the loss of β cells and the subsequent development of hyperglycemia. The depletion or inhibition of 12-LOX in this model resulted in reduced macrophage infiltration into islets and the preservation of β cell mass. In NOD mice, the deletion of the gene encoding 12-LOX in the myeloid lineage resulted in reduced insulitis with reductions in proinflammatory macrophages, a suppressed T cell response, preserved β cell mass, and almost complete protection from the development of T1D. 12-LOX depletion caused a defect in myeloid cell migration, a function required for immune surveillance and tissue injury responses. This effect on migration resulted from the loss of the chemokine receptor CXCR3. Transgenic expression of the gene encoding CXCR3 rescued the migratory defect in zebrafish 12-LOX morphants. Taken together, our results reveal a formative role for innate immune cells in the early pathogenesis of T1D and identify 12-LOX as an enzyme required to promote their prodiabetogenic phenotype in the context of autoimmunity.

Authors

Abhishek Kulkarni, Annie R. Pineros, Melissa A. Walsh, Isabel Casimiro, Sara Ibrahim, Marimar Hernandez-Perez, Kara S. Orr, Lindsey Glenn, Jerry L. Nadler, Margaret A. Morris, Sarah A. Tersey, Raghavendra G. Mirmira, Ryan M. Anderson

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Figure 1

Macrophages promote β cell loss and hyperglycemia after injury in zebrafish.

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Macrophages promote β cell loss and hyperglycemia after injury in zebraf...
(A) Schematic representation of the β cell injury assay in transgenic Tg(mpeg:eGFP);Tg(ins:NTR) zebrafish at 3 dpf, wherein islet β cells (red) are selectively destroyed upon incubation with MTZ, with the concomitant/subsequent entry of macrophages (green). (B) Representative images of islets from zebrafish treated for the times indicated with MTZ, then stained for insulin (β cells, red) and GFP (macrophages, green). Scale bar: 10 μm. (C) Free glucose measurements of whole zebrafish lysates, treated as indicated in the panel. n = 3–5 lysates per condition (20 fish per lysate), and *P < 0.05 (by 1-way ANOVA with post hoc Tukey’s test) for the corresponding values compared with untreated controls (no clodronate, no MTZ). (D) Representative images of islets from zebrafish stained for insulin (β cells, red) under the conditions indicated. Scale bar: 10 μm. (E) Quantitation of β cell number from the experiment represented in D (*P < 0.05 by unpaired 2-tailed t test). (F) Schematic representation of the β cell regeneration assay, where photoconversion of Kaede protein results in red+green (= yellow) preexisting β cells and newly formed (neogenic) β cells enter as green cells. (G) Representative images of islets from zebrafish exhibiting preexisting (yellow) and neogenic (green) β cells at 24 hours and 48 hours of recovery after MTZ treatment under the conditions (control or clodronate) indicated. Scale bar: 10 μm. (H) Quantitation of neogenic β cell number from the experiment represented in G (n = 6–7 fish/condition; *P < 0.05 by unpaired 2-tailed t test). (I) Schematic representation of the zebrafish tailfin injury assay, where tailfins of Tg(mpeg:GFP) fish at 3 dpf are mechanically cut with a blade, and the migration of macrophages (green) are observed at the site of injury. (J) Representative tailfin images of uninjured and injured zebrafish tails stained with GFP (macrophages, green) under the conditions indicated. Dotted line shows the tailfin injury site. Scale bar: 100 μm. In all panels, data are presented as mean ± SEM. GFP, green fluorescent protein; NTR, nitroreductase; Tg(mpeg:eGFP), transgenic fish containing enhanced GFP–labeled macrophages; Tg(ins:NTR), transgenic β cell NTR–expressing zebrafish; MTZ, metronidazole.

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