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Type 1 diabetes is characterized by the destruction of pancreatic β cells, and generating new insulin-producing cells from other cell types is a major aim of regenerative medicine. One promising approach is transdifferentiation of developmentally related pancreatic cell types, including glucagon-producing α cells. In a genetic model, loss of the master regulatory transcription factor Arx is sufficient to induce the conversion of α cells to functional β-like cells. Here, we identify artemisinins as small molecules that functionally repress Arx by causing its translocation to the cytoplasm. We show that the protein gephyrin is the mammalian target of these antimalarial drugs and that the mechanism of action of these molecules depends on the enhancement of GABAA receptor signaling. Our results in zebrafish, rodents, and primary human pancreatic islets identify gephyrin as a druggable target for the regeneration of pancreatic β cell mass from α cells.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/j.cell.2016.11.010

Type

Journal article

Journal

Cell

Publication Date

12/01/2017

Volume

168

Pages

86 - 100.e15

Keywords

ARX translocation, GABA-receptor signaling, artemisinins, chemical biology, diabetes, gephyrin, insulin secretion, pancreatic endocrine transdifferentiation, regenerative medicine, β cell, Animals, Artemether, Artemisinins, Carrier Proteins, Cell Transdifferentiation, Cells, Cultured, Diabetes Mellitus, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1, Disease Models, Animal, Gene Expression Profiling, Homeodomain Proteins, Humans, Insulin, Islets of Langerhans, Membrane Proteins, Mice, Protein Stability, Rats, Receptors, GABA-A, Signal Transduction, Single-Cell Analysis, Transcription Factors, Zebrafish, gamma-Aminobutyric Acid