Project description:Insulin resistance is accompanied by chronic hyperinsulinemia and is associated with type 2 diabetes and other metabolic syndromes in a substantial portion of the population. The risk factors and features of insulin resistance have been thoroughly described but its mechanistic triggers are still under study. Here we consider a condensate model for insulin receptor (IR) function in normal conditions and when dysregulated in chronic hyperinsulinemia-induced insulin resistance. We find that IR is incorporated into liquid-like condensates at the plasma membrane, in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus of liver cells, and provide evidence for insulin-dependent IR function in condensates. Insulin stimulation promotes further incorporation of IR into these dynamic condensates in insulin sensitive cells, which form and dissolve on short, sub-minute time-scales. In contrast, insulin stimulation does not promote further incorporation of IR into condensates in insulin resistant cells, where IR molecules within condensates exhibit less dynamic behavior. Metformin treatment of insulin resistant cells rescues IR condensate dynamics and insulin responsiveness. Insulin resistant cells experience high levels of oxidative stress, which causes reduced condensate dynamics, and treatment of these cells with metformin reduces ROS levels and returns condensates to their normal dynamic behavior. The condensate model we propose can account for features of normal and dysregulated insulin response and has implications for improved therapeutic approaches to insulin resistance.
Project description:Insulin receptor (IR) signaling is central to normal metabolic control and is dysregulated in metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. We report here that IR is incorporated into dynamic clusters at the plasma membrane, in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus of human hepatocytes and adipocytes. Insulin stimulation promotes further incorporation of IR into these dynamic clusters in insulin-sensitive cells but not in insulin-resistant cells, where both IR accumulation and dynamic behavior are reduced. Treatment of insulin-resistant cells with metformin, a first-line drug used to treat type 2 diabetes, can rescue IR accumulation and the dynamic behavior of these clusters. This rescue is associated with metformin’s role in reducing reactive oxygen species that interfere with normal dynamics. These results indicate that changes in the physico-mechanical features of IR clusters contribute to insulin resistance and have implications for improved therapeutic approaches.
Project description:Transcription factors are among the most attractive therapeutic targets but are considered largely undruggable. Here we provide evidence that small molecule-mediated partitioning of the androgen receptor, an oncogenic transcription factor, into phase-separated condensates has therapeutic effect in prostate cancer. We show that the phase separation capacity of the androgen receptor is driven by aromatic residues and short unstable helices in its intrinsically disordered activation domain. Based on this knowledge, we developed tool compounds that covalently attach aromatic moieties to cysteines in the receptors’ activation domain. The compounds enhanced partitioning of the receptor into condensates, facilitated degradation of the receptor, inhibited androgen receptor-dependent transcriptional programs, and had antitumorigenic effect in mouse models of prostate cancer and castration resistant prostate cancer. These results establish a generalizable framework to target the phase-separation capacity of intrinsically disordered regions in oncogenic transcription factors and other disease-associated proteins with therapeutic intent.
Project description:Insulin resistance is central to diabetes and metabolic syndrome. To define the consequences of genetic insulin resistance distinct from those secondary to cellular differentiation or in vivo regulation, we generated induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from individuals with insulin receptor mutations and age-appropriate control subjects and studied insulin signaling and gene expression compared with the fibroblasts from which they were derived. iPSCs from patients with genetic insulin resistance exhibited altered insulin signaling, paralleling that seen in the original fibroblasts. Insulin-stimulated expression of immediate early genes and proliferation were also potently reduced in insulin resistant iPSCs. Global gene expression analysis revealed marked differences in both insulin-resistant iPSCs and corresponding fibroblasts compared with control iPSCs and fibroblasts. Patterns of gene expression in patients with genetic insulin resistance were particularly distinct in the two cell types, indicating dependence on not only receptor activity but also the cellular context of the mutant insulin receptor. Thus, iPSCs provide a novel approach to define effects of genetically determined insulin resistance. This study demonstrates that effects of insulin resistance on gene expression are modified by cellular context and differentiation state. Moreover, altered insulin receptor signaling and insulin resistance can modify proliferation and function of pluripotent stem cell populations. To investigate the impact of genetic insulin resistance on transcriptional regulation in iPSCs, we analyzed global gene expression using microarrays in both fibroblasts and iPSCs.