Chronic high fat feeding restricts islet mRNA translation initiation independently of ER stress via DNA damage and p53 activation

Under conditions of high fat diet (HFD) consumption, glucose dyshomeostasis develops when β-cells are unable to adapt to peripheral insulin demands. Few studies have interrogated the molecular mechanisms of β-cell dysfunction at the level of mRNA translation under such conditions. We sought to address this issue through polyribosome profile analysis of islets from mice fed 16-weeks of 42% HFD. HFD-islet analysis revealed clear trends toward global reductions in mRNA translation with a significant reduction in the polyribosome/monoribosome ratio for Pdx1 mRNA. Transcriptional and translational analyses revealed endoplasmic reticulum stress was not the etiology of our findings. HFD-islets demonstrated evidence of oxidative stress and DNA damage, as well as activation of p53. Experiments in MIN-6 β-cells revealed that treatment with doxorubicin to directly induce DNA damage mimicked our observed effects in islets. Islets from animals treated with pioglitazone concurrently with HFD demonstrated a reversal of effects observed from HFD alone. Finally, HFD-islets demonstrated reduced expression of multiple ribosome biogenesis genes and the key translation initiation factor eIF4E. We propose a heretofore unappreciated effect of chronic HFD on β-cells, wherein continued DNA damage owing to persistent oxidative stress results in p53 activation and a resultant inhibition of mRNA translation.