A zebrafish model for hyperinsulinemia shows that induction of insulin resistance and immune suppression is mediated by ptpn6/shp.1

Type 2 Diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome are pathologies impacting a large population worldwide where insulin resistance plays a central role. These pathologies are usually associated to a dysregulation of insulin secretion leading to a chronic exposure of the tissues to high insulin levels (i.e. hyperinsulinemia) what diminishes the concentration of key downstream elements causing insulin resistance. The complexity of the study of insulin resistance relies on the heterogeneity of the metabolic states where it’s observed. In consequence, animal models for the study of insulin resistance, can not completely recapitulate the metabolic status of insulin resistant humans, what is translated in contradictory observations. To contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms triggering insulin resistance we have developed a zebrafish model to study insulin metabolism and its associated disorders. Zebrafish embryos appeared to be sensitive to human recombinant insulin, becoming insulin resistant when exposed to a high dose of the hormone, as confirmed by glucose measurements. Moreover RNAseq-based transcriptomic profiling of these embryos revealed a strong down regulation of a number of immune relevant genes as a consequences of the exposure to hyperinsulinemia. Interestingly, as an exception, the negative immune modulator ptpn6 appeared to be up regulated in insulin resistant embryos. Knockdown of ptpn6 showed to counteract the observed down regulation of the immune system and insulin signalling pathways effects at the transcriptional level caused by hyperinsulinemia. These results show that ptpn6 is a mediator of the metabolic switch between insulin sensitive and insulin resistant states. Our zebrafish model for hyperinsulinemia has therefore demonstrated it suitability to discover novel regulators of insulin resistance. In addition, our data will be very useful to further study the function of immunological determinants in a non-obese model system. Overall design: 16 samples in total were analyzed. 4 replicates from control samples (injected with PBS) and 4 replicates of insulin injected samples at 0.5 hpi and 4 hpi. In each sample 10 embryos were pooled.

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Marín-Juez R, Jong-Raadsen S, Yang S, Spaink HP