Publications

Anna L Gloyn
Professor of Pediatrics (Endocrinology) and of Genetics

Publications

  • Loss of RREB1 in pancreatic beta cells reduces cellular insulin content and affects endocrine cell gene expression. Diabetologia Mattis, K. K., Krentz, N. A., Metzendorf, C., Abaitua, F., Spigelman, A. F., Sun, H., Ikle, J. M., Thaman, S., Rottner, A. K., Bautista, A., Mazzaferro, E., Perez-Alcantara, M., Manning Fox, J. E., Torres, J. M., Wesolowska-Andersen, A., Yu, G. Z., Mahajan, A., Larsson, A., MacDonald, P. E., Davies, B., den Hoed, M., Gloyn, A. L. 2023

    Abstract

    Genome-wide studies have uncovered multiple independent signals at the RREB1 locus associated with altered type 2 diabetes risk and related glycaemic traits. However, little is known about the function of the zinc finger transcription factor Ras-responsive element binding protein 1 (RREB1) in glucose homeostasis or how changes in its expression and/or function influence diabetes risk.A zebrafish model lacking rreb1a and rreb1b was used to study the effect of RREB1 loss in vivo. Using transcriptomic and cellular phenotyping of a human beta cell model (EndoC-βH1) and human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived beta-like cells, we investigated how loss of RREB1 expression and activity affects pancreatic endocrine cell development and function. Ex vivo measurements of human islet function were performed in donor islets from carriers of RREB1 type 2 diabetes risk alleles.CRISPR/Cas9-mediated loss of rreb1a and rreb1b function in zebrafish supports an in vivo role for the transcription factor in beta cell mass, beta cell insulin expression and glucose levels. Loss of RREB1 also reduced insulin gene expression and cellular insulin content in EndoC-βH1 cells and impaired insulin secretion under prolonged stimulation. Transcriptomic analysis of RREB1 knockdown and knockout EndoC-βH1 cells supports RREB1 as a novel regulator of genes involved in insulin secretion. In vitro differentiation of RREB1KO/KO hiPSCs revealed dysregulation of pro-endocrine cell genes, including RFX family members, suggesting that RREB1 also regulates genes involved in endocrine cell development. Human donor islets from carriers of type 2 diabetes risk alleles in RREB1 have altered glucose-stimulated insulin secretion ex vivo, consistent with a role for RREB1 in regulating islet cell function.Together, our results indicate that RREB1 regulates beta cell function by transcriptionally regulating the expression of genes involved in beta cell development and function.

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s00125-022-05856-6

    View details for PubMedID 36633628

  • A genome-wide CRISPR screen identifies CALCOCO2 as a regulator of beta cell function influencing type 2 diabetes risk. Nature genetics Rottner, A. K., Ye, Y., Navarro-Guerrero, E., Rajesh, V., Pollner, A., Bevacqua, R. J., Yang, J., Spigelman, A. F., Baronio, R., Bautista, A., Thomsen, S. K., Lyon, J., Nawaz, S., Smith, N., Wesolowska-Andersen, A., Fox, J. E., Sun, H., Kim, S. K., Ebner, D., MacDonald, P. E., Gloyn, A. L. 2022

    Abstract

    Identification of the genes and processes mediating genetic association signals for complex diseases represents a major challenge. As many of the genetic signals for type 2 diabetes (T2D) exert their effects through pancreatic islet-cell dysfunction, we performed a genome-wide pooled CRISPR loss-of-function screen in a human pancreatic beta cell line. We assessed the regulation of insulin content as a disease-relevant readout of beta cell function and identified 580 genes influencing this phenotype. Integration with genetic and genomic data provided experimental support for 20 candidate T2D effector transcripts including the autophagy receptor CALCOCO2. Loss of CALCOCO2 was associated with distorted mitochondria, less proinsulin-containing immature granules and accumulation of autophagosomes upon inhibition of late-stage autophagy. Carriers of T2D-associated variants at the CALCOCO2 locus further displayed altered insulin secretion. Our study highlights how cellular screens can augment existing multi-omic efforts to support mechanistic understanding and provide evidence for causal effects at genome-wide association studies loci.

    View details for DOI 10.1038/s41588-022-01261-2

    View details for PubMedID 36543916

  • Zmiz1 is required for mature β-cell function and mass expansion upon high fat feeding. Molecular metabolism Alghamdi, T. A., Krentz, N. A., Smith, N., Spigelman, A. F., Rajesh, V., Jha, A., Ferdaoussi, M., Suzuki, K., Yang, J., Manning Fox, J. E., Sun, H., Sun, Z., Gloyn, A. L., MacDonald, P. E. 2022: 101621

    Abstract

    Identifying the transcripts which mediate genetic association signals for type 2 diabetes (T2D) is critical to understand disease mechanisms. Studies in pancreatic islets support the transcription factor ZMIZ1 as a transcript underlying a T2D GWAS signal, but how it influences T2D risk is unknown.β-cell-specific Zmiz1 knockout (Zmiz1βKO) mice were generated and phenotypically characterised. Glucose homeostasis was assessed in Zmiz1βKO mice and their control littermates on chow diet (CD) and high fat diet (HFD). Islet morphology and function were examined by immunocytochemistry and in vitro islet function was assessed by dynamic insulin secretion assay. Transcript and protein expression were assessed by RNA sequencing and Western blotting. In islets isolated from genotyped human donors, we assessed glucose-dependent insulin secretion and islet insulin content by static incubation assay.Male and female Zmiz1βKO mice were glucose intolerant with impaired insulin secretion, compared with control littermates. Transcriptomic profiling of Zmiz1βKO islets identified over 500 differentially expressed genes including those involved in β-cell function and maturity, which we confirmed at the protein level. Upon HFD, Zmiz1βKO mice fail to expand β-cell mass and become severely diabetic. Human islets from carriers of the ZMIZ1-linked T2D-risk alleles have reduced islet insulin content and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion.β-cell Zmiz1 is required for normal glucose homeostasis. Genetic variation at the ZMIZ1 locus may influence T2D-risk by reducing islet mass expansion upon metabolic stress and the ability to maintain a mature β-cell state.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.molmet.2022.101621

    View details for PubMedID 36307047

  • The contribution of functional HNF1A variants and polygenic susceptibility to risk of type 2 diabetes in ancestrally diverse populations. Diabetologia Stalbow, L. A., Preuss, M. H., Smit, R. A., Chami, N., Bjørkhaug, L., Aukrust, I., Gloyn, A. L., Loos, R. J. 2022

    Abstract

    We examined the contribution of rare HNF1A variants to type 2 diabetes risk and age of diagnosis, and the extent to which their impact is affected by overall genetic susceptibility, across three ancestry groups.Using exome sequencing data of 160,615 individuals of the UK Biobank and 18,797 individuals of the BioMe Biobank, we identified 746 carriers of rare functional HNF1A variants (minor allele frequency ≤1%), of which 507 carry variants in the functional domains. We calculated polygenic risk scores (PRSs) based on genome-wide association study summary statistics for type 2 diabetes, and examined the association of HNF1A variants and PRS with risk of type 2 diabetes and age of diagnosis. We also tested whether the PRS affects the association between HNF1A variants and type 2 diabetes risk by including an interaction term.Rare HNF1A variants that are predicted to impair protein function are associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes in individuals of European ancestry (OR 1.46, p=0.049), particularly when the variants are located in the functional domains (OR 1.89, p=0.002). No association was observed for individuals of African ancestry (OR 1.10, p=0.60) or Hispanic-Latino ancestry (OR 1.00, p=1.00). Rare functional HNF1A variants were associated with an earlier age at diagnosis in the Hispanic-Latino population (β=-5.0 years, p=0.03), and this association was marginally more pronounced for variants in the functional domains (β=-5.59 years, p=0.03). No associations were observed for other ancestries (African ancestry β=-2.7 years, p=0.13; European ancestry β=-3.5 years, p=0.20). A higher PRS was associated with increased odds of type 2 diabetes in all ancestries (OR 1.61-2.11, p<10-5) and an earlier age at diagnosis in individuals of African ancestry (β=-1.4 years, p=3.7 × 10-6) and Hispanic-Latino ancestry (β=-2.4 years, p<2 × 10-16). Furthermore, a higher PRS exacerbated the effect of the functional HNF1A variants on type 2 diabetes in the European ancestry population (pinteraction=0.037).We show that rare functional HNF1A variants, in particular those located in the functional domains, increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, at least among individuals of European ancestry. Their effect is even more pronounced in individuals with a high polygenic susceptibility. Our analyses highlight the importance of the location of functional variants within a gene and an individual's overall polygenic susceptibility, and emphasise the need for more genetic data in non-European populations.

    View details for DOI 10.1007/s00125-022-05806-2

    View details for PubMedID 36216889

  • Genetic regulation of RNA splicing in human pancreatic islets. Genome biology Atla, G., Bonas-Guarch, S., Cuenca-Ardura, M., Beucher, A., Crouch, D. J., Garcia-Hurtado, J., Moran, I., T2DSystems Consortium, Irimia, M., Prasad, R. B., Gloyn, A. L., Marselli, L., Suleiman, M., Berney, T., de Koning, E. J., Kerr-Conte, J., Pattou, F., Todd, J. A., Piemonti, L., Ferrer, J., Cnop, M., Eliasson, L., Esguerra, J. L., Eizirik, D. L., Groop, L., Jensen, T. S., Hansen, T., Marchetti, P., Mercader, J. M., Mulder, H., Stabile-Barnett, C. R., Thirion, C., Torrents, D. 2022; 23 (1): 196

    Abstract

    BACKGROUND: Non-coding genetic variants that influence gene transcription in pancreatic islets play a major role in the susceptibility to type 2 diabetes (T2D), and likely also contribute to type 1 diabetes (T1D) risk. For many loci, however, the mechanisms through which non-coding variants influence diabetes susceptibility are unknown.RESULTS: We examine splicing QTLs (sQTLs) in pancreatic islets from 399 human donors and observe that commongenetic variation has a widespread influence on thesplicing of genes with established roles in islet biology and diabetes. In parallel, we profile expression QTLs (eQTLs) and use transcriptome-wide association as well as genetic co-localization studies to assign islet sQTLs or eQTLs to T2D and T1D susceptibility signals, many of which lack candidate effector genes. This analysis reveals biologically plausible mechanisms, including the association of T2D with an sQTL that creates a nonsense isoform in ERO1B, a regulator of ER-stress and proinsulin biosynthesis. The expanded list of T2D risk effector genes reveals overrepresented pathways, including regulators of G-protein-mediated cAMP production. The analysis of sQTLs also reveals candidate effector genes for T1D susceptibility such as DCLRE1B, a senescence regulator, and lncRNA MEG3.CONCLUSIONS: These data expose widespread effects of common genetic variants on RNA splicing in pancreatic islets. The results support a role for splicing variation in diabetes susceptibility, and offera new set of genetic targets with potential therapeutic benefit.

    View details for DOI 10.1186/s13059-022-02757-0

    View details for PubMedID 36109769