Identification of two microRNA nodes as potential cooperative modulators of liver metabolism

Mette Yde Hochreuter; Ali Altıntaş; Christian Garde; Brice Emanuelli; C Ronald Kahn; Juleen R Zierath; Sara Vienberg; Romain Barrès

doi:10.1111/hepr.13419

Identification of two microRNA nodes as potential cooperative modulators of liver metabolism

Hepatol Res. 2019 Dec;49(12):1451-1465. doi: 10.1111/hepr.13419. Epub 2019 Sep 11.

Authors

Mette Yde Hochreuter¹, Ali Altıntaş¹, Christian Garde¹, Brice Emanuelli¹, C Ronald Kahn², Juleen R Zierath^{1

3

4}, Sara Vienberg⁵, Romain Barrès¹

Affiliations

¹ Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
² Section of Integrative Physiology and Metabolism, Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
³ Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁴ Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
⁵ Diabetes Research Unit, Novo Nordisk A/S, Måløv, Denmark.

Abstract

Aim: Hepatic insulin resistance is a hallmark of type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Dysregulation of microRNA (miRNA) expression in insulin-resistant livers might coordinate impaired hepatic metabolic function. Here, we aimed to discover miRNAs and their downstream targets involved in hepatic insulin resistance.

Methods: We determined miRNA expression profiles by small RNA sequencing of two mouse models of impaired hepatic insulin action: high-fat diet-induced obesity and liver-specific insulin receptor knockout. Conversely, we assessed the hepatic miRNA expression profile after treatment with the antidiabetic hormone, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21). Ontology analysis of predicted miRNA gene targets was performed to identify regulated gene pathways. Target enrichment analysis and miRNA mimic overexpression in vitro were used to identify unified protein targets of nodes of regulated miRNAs.

Results: We identified an array of miRNA species regulated by impaired liver insulin action or after fibroblast growth factor 21 treatment. Ontology analysis of predicted miRNA gene targets identified pathways controlling hepatic energy metabolism and insulin sensitivity. We identified a node of two miRNAs downregulated in the livers of liver-specific insulin receptor knockout mice, miR-883b and miR-205, which positively regulate the expression of transcription factor zinc finger E-box-binding homeobox 1 (ZBED1). We found another node of two miRNAs upregulated in the livers of fibroblast growth factor 21-treated mice, miR-155-3p and miR-1968-5p, which canonically downregulates the caveola component, polymerase I and transcript release factor (PTRF), a gene previously implicated in hepatic energy metabolism.

Conclusions: This study identifies two nodes of coregulated miRNAs that might coordinately control hepatic energy metabolism in states of insulin resistance.

Keywords: FGF21; high-fat diet; insulin receptor; insulin resistance; liver; microRNA.

Abstract

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