1752-P: The Role of Translocon-Associated Protein Subunit γ in Insulin Biosynthesis and Glucose Homeostasis

Abstract

Translocation-associated protein (TRAP) is a four-subunit complex located on the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane, including TRAPα, TRAPβ, TRAPγ, and TRAPδ. TRAPα, TRAPβ and TRAPδ reside on the luminal side of the ER membrane for primary functionality, whereas the extra-membranous portion of TRAPγ is mainly cytosolic. Our recent studies indicate that TRAP complex contributes to the biosynthesis of proinsulin in pancreatic β cell lines and TRAPγ is a rate-limiting element of proinsulin biosynthesis. This might be partially explained by that newly made preproinsulin may first encounter the cytosolic domain of TRAPγ for translocation into the ER. To further understand the role of TRAPγ in β cells and its pathological significance in maintaining glucose homeostasis, we generated a β-cell specific TRAPγ knockout mouse model. We found that TRAPγ deficiency led to a significant reduction of insulin content in islets and a decrease of circulating insulin. TRAPγ βKO mice impaired glucose tolerance with aging, which even further deteriorated with high fat diet. In β cell line, TRAPγ deficiency resulted in less proinsulin synthesis and poor response to high glucose stimulation. Consistently, an acute exposure to high glucose increased expression of TRAPγ and proinsulin protein levels simultaneously in wild-type mouse islets. However, the ability to upregulate proinsulin response to high glucose was markedly compromised in TRAPγ βKO mouse islets. This study uncovers that TRAPγ is critical to insulin synthesis both in vivo and in vitro, which provides insight into the pathogenesis of type 2 Diabetes. Disclosure N.Xu: None. X.Xu: None. J.Hu: None. J.Guo: None. J.Cui: None. M.Liu: None. W.Feng: None. X.Li: None. Funding National Natural Science Foundation of China (81830025, 82220108014, 82100865, 81800733, 81900720, 82000796, 82070854); National Key R&D Program of China (2019YFA0802502, 2022YFE0131400); Tianjin Key Medical Discipline Construction Project (TJYXZDXK-030A)