| First Author | Hu R | Year | 2024 |
| Journal | Cell Death Differ | Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 322-334 |
| PubMed ID | 38321214 | Mgi Jnum | J:345909 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:7611588 | Doi | 10.1038/s41418-024-01258-w |
| Citation | Hu R, et al. (2024) ISR inhibition reverses pancreatic beta-cell failure in Wolfram syndrome models. Cell Death Differ 31(3):322-334 |
| abstractText | Pancreatic beta-cell failure by WFS1 deficiency is manifested in individuals with wolfram syndrome (WS). The lack of a suitable human model in WS has impeded progress in the development of new treatments. Here, human pluripotent stem cell derived pancreatic islets (SC-islets) harboring WFS1 deficiency and mouse model of beta cell specific Wfs1 knockout were applied to model beta-cell failure in WS. We charted a high-resolution roadmap with single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) to investigate pathogenesis for WS beta-cell failure, revealing two distinct cellular fates along pseudotime trajectory: maturation and stress branches. WFS1 deficiency disrupted beta-cell fate trajectory toward maturation and directed it towards stress trajectory, ultimately leading to beta-cell failure. Notably, further investigation of the stress trajectory identified activated integrated stress response (ISR) as a crucial mechanism underlying WS beta-cell failure, characterized by aberrant eIF2 signaling in WFS1-deficient SC-islets, along with elevated expression of genes in regulating stress granule formation. Significantly, we demonstrated that ISRIB, an ISR inhibitor, efficiently reversed beta-cell failure in WFS1-deficient SC-islets. We further validated therapeutic efficacy in vivo with beta-cell specific Wfs1 knockout mice. Altogether, our study provides novel insights into WS pathogenesis and offers a strategy targeting ISR to treat WS diabetes. |
