Chronic inflammation appears to play a critical role in type 2 diabetes and its complications. Here we tested the hypothesis that this inflammatory dysregulation affects the IL-1β system and has functional consequences in the brain. Diabetic, db/db, and nondiabetic, db/+, mice were administered i.p. LPS, a potent cytokine inducer, at a dose of 100 μg/kg/mouse. db/db mouse innate immune-associated sickness behavior was 14.8, 33, 44.7, and 34% greater than that of db/+ mice at 2, 4, 8, and 12 h, respectively. When a fixed dose of LPS was used (5 μg/mouse), db/db mouse sickness was again enhanced 18.4, 22.2, and 14.5% at 4, 8, and 12 h as compared with db/+ mice. In diabetic mice, peritoneal macrophages produced more IL-1β in response to LPS, and peritoneal levels of IL-1β induced by LPS were increased. Importantly, IL-1R antagonist and type 2 IL-1 receptor (IL-1R2) failed to up-regulate in response to LPS in db/db mice. Finally, both peripheral and central administration of IL-1β, itself, induced sickness in db/db mice that mimicked the effects of peripheral LPS and was significantly greater than that seen in db/+ mice. Taken together, these results indicate that IL-1β-mediated innate immunity is augmented in db/db mice both at the periphery and in the brain, and the mechanism is due to diabetes-associated loss of IL-1β counterregulation.

Human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) represent an attractive source of cardiomyocytes with potential applications including disease modeling, drug discovery and safety screening, and novel cell-based cardiac therapies. Insights from embryology have contributed to the development of efficient, reliable methods capable of generating large quantities of human PSC-cardiomyocytes with cardiac purities ranging up to 90%. However, for human PSCs to meet their full potential, the field must identify methods to generate cardiomyocyte populations that are uniform in subtype (e.g. homogeneous ventricular cardiomyocytes) and have more mature structural and functional properties. For in vivo applications, cardiomyocyte production must be highly scalable and clinical grade, and we will need to overcome challenges including graft cell death, immune rejection, arrhythmogenesis, and tumorigenic potential. Here we discuss the types of human PSCs, commonly used methods to guide their differentiation into cardiomyocytes, the phenotype of the resultant cardiomyocytes, and the remaining obstacles to their successful translation.

Acute hypoxia is experienced in an array of ailments and conditions, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, sleep apnea, acute hypotension, and blast lung injury. Classically, infection activates the neuroimmune system, causing loss of interest in the social environment. We report that the non-infectious stimulus acute hypoxia triggers neuroimmune system activation (NSA), causing loss of interest in the social environment, and that recovery from hypoxia-induced NSA is impaired in a mouse model of type 2 diabetes. Importantly, recovery from the behavioral consequences of hypoxia-induced NSA was nearly ablated in MyD88 (myeloid differentiation factor 88) knock-out mice and in mice intracerebroventricularly administered the caspase-1 inhibitor ac-YVAD-CMK (ac-Tyr-Val-Asp-2,6-dimethylbenzoyloxymethylketone). Diabetic mice had prolonged recovery from NSA that could be halved by administration of subcutaneous interleukin-1 (IL-1) receptor antagonist (RA). These results show that acute hypoxia activates the IL-1␤ arm of the neuroimmune system, which diabetes exacerbates and treatment with IL-1RA ameliorates.

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SH-PTP2, a non-transmembrane-type protein-tyrosine phosphatase with two Src homology 2 domains, was previously shown to play a positive signaling role in the insulin-induced activation of Ras and mitogen-activated protein kinase. SH-PTP2 was shown to associate with a 115-kDa tyrosine-phosphorylated protein (pp115), as well as with insulin receptor substrate 1, in insulinstimulated Chinese hamster ovary cells that overexpress human insulin receptors (CHO-IR cells). In vivo and in vitro binding experiments revealed that SH-PTP2 bound to pp115 through one or both of its SH2 domains. The pp115 protein was partially purified from insulinstimulated CHO-IR cells that overexpress a catalytically inactive SH-PTP2 by a combination of immunoaffinity and lectin-affinity chromatography. A monoclonal antibody to pp115 was then generated by injecting the partially purified protein into mice. Experiments with this monoclonal antibody revealed that pp115 is a transmembrane protein with a domain exposed on the cell surface and that it binds to SH-PTP2 in response to insulin. The insulin receptor kinase appeared to phosphorylate pp115 on tyrosine residues both in vivo and in vitro. The extent of tyrosine phosphorylation of pp115 associated with SH-PTP2 was greatly increased in CHO-IR cells that overexpress catalytically inactive SH-PTP2 compared with that observed in CHO-IR cells overexpressing wild-type SH-PTP2. Furthermore, recombinant SH-PTP2 preferentially dephosphorylated pp115 in vitro, indicating that SH-PTP2 may catalyze the dephosphorylation of phosphotyrosine residues in pp115 after it binds to this protein. These results suggest that pp115 may act as a transmembrane anchor to which SH-PTP2 binds in response to insulin. Furthermore, pp115 may be a physiological substrate for both the insulin receptor kinase and SH-PTP2.

We have shown previously that hyperinsulinemia inhibits interferon-␣-dependent activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) through mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)-induced serine phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1. Here we report that chronic insulin and high glucose synergistically inhibit interleukin (IL)-4-dependent activation of PI3-kinase in macrophages via the mTOR pathway. Resident peritoneal macrophages (PerM⌽s) from diabetic (db/db) mice showed a 44% reduction in IRS-2-associated PI3-kinase activity stimulated by IL-4 compared with PerM⌽s from heterozygote (db/؉) control mice. IRS-2 from db/db mouse PerM⌽s also showed a 78% increase in Ser/Thr-Pro motif phosphorylation without a difference in IRS-2 mass. To investigate the mechanism of this PI3-kinase inhibition, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-matured U937 cells were treated chronically with insulin (1 nM, 18 h) and high glucose (4.5 g/liter, 48 h). In these cells, IL-4-stimulated IRS-2-associated PI3-kinase activity was reduced by 37.5%. Importantly, chronic insulin or high glucose alone did not impact IL-4-activated IRS-2-associated PI3-kinase. Chronic insulin ؉ high glucose did reduce IL-4-dependent IRS-2 tyrosine phosphorylation and p85 association by 54 and 37%, respectively, but did not effect IL-4-activated JAK/STAT signaling. When IRS-2 Ser/Thr-Pro motif phosphorylation was examined, chronic insulin ؉ high glucose resulted in a 92% increase in IRS-2 Ser/Thr-Pro motif phosphorylation without a change in IRS-2 mass. Pretreatment of matured U937 cells with rapamycin blocked chronic insulin ؉ high glucose-dependent IRS-2 Ser/Thr-Pro motif phosphorylation and restored IL-4-dependent IRS-2-associated PI3-kinase activity. Taken together these results indicate that IRS-2-dependent IL-4 signaling in macrophages is impaired in models of type 2 diabetes mellitus through a mechanism that relies on insulin/ glucose-dependent Ser/Thr-Pro motif serine phosphorylation mediated by the mTOR pathway.The first member of the insulin receptor substrate (IRS) 1 family, IRS-1, was initially discovered in Fao hepatoma cells as a tyrosine-phosphorylated substrate of the insulin receptor (1). In addition to insulin signaling, IRS proteins are integrally linked to intracellular signaling pathways initiated by IGF-I and the cytokines IL-2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 13, 15 and IFN-␣ and IFN-␥ (2-10). Importantly, serine phosphorylation of IRS-1 blocks insulin, IGF-I, and cytokine signaling through IRS-1 (11-15) and appears critical to the initiation of proteasomedependent IRS-1 degradation (16,17). We have shown that chronic insulin in the presence of high glucose leads to serine phosphorylation of IRS-1 through an mTOR-dependent mechanism and that this renders IRS-1 a poorer substrate for JAK1 (18). In addition, we have shown that serine phosphorylation targets IRS-1 for proteasome-dependent degradation in L6 muscle cells (19). However, these same mechanisms have not been investigated in relation to IRS-2-dependent cytokine signaling.IRS-2 is...

Background: The COVID–19 pandemic is now dominated by variant lineages; the resulting impact on disease severity remains unclear. Using a retrospective cohort study, we assessed the risk of hospitalization following infection with nine variants of concern or interest (VOC/VOI). Methods: Our study includes individuals with positive SARS–CoV–2 RT PCR in the Washington Disease Reporting System and with available viral genome data, from December 1, 2020 to July 30, 2021. The main analysis was restricted to cases with specimens collected through sentinel surveillance. Using a Cox proportional hazards model with mixed effects, we estimated hazard ratios (HR) for the risk of hospitalization following infection with a VOC/VOI, adjusting for age, sex, and vaccination status. Findings: Of the 27,814 cases, 23,170 (83.3%) were sequenced through sentinel surveillance, of which 726 (3.1%) were hospitalized due to COVID–19. Higher hospitalization risk was found for infections with Gamma (HR 3.17, 95% CI 2.15–4.67), Beta (HR: 2.97, 95% CI 1.65–5.35), Delta (HR: 2.30, 95% CI 1.69–3.15), and Alpha (HR 1.59, 95% CI 1.26–1.99) compared to infections with an ancestral lineage. Following VOC infection, unvaccinated patients show a similar higher hospitalization risk, while vaccinated patients show no significant difference in risk, both when compared to unvaccinated, ancestral lineage cases. Interpretation: Infection with a VOC results in a higher hospitalization risk, with an active vaccination attenuating that risk. Our findings support promoting hospital preparedness, vaccination, and robust genomic surveillance.