AEBP1 as a promising therapeutic target for skeletal muscle insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus: Convergent evidence from Mendelian randomization and functional validation

Background

The pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is closely related to skeletal muscle insulin resistance (IR). Currently, there is still a lack of relevant treatments. Summary-data-based Mendelian randomization (SMR) is a vital tool for identifying druggable targets in skeletal muscle to develop T2DM treatments.

Methods

Potential causative genetic factors in skeletal muscle and blood causally associated with T2DM were identified by SMR analysis. Bayesian colocalisation were used to validate causality. Pleiotropic impact of drug targets was assessed using phenome-wide MR (Phe-MR). Then, targeted overexpression or knockdown of AEBP1 in mouse myoblast cell lines (C2C12) and human skeletal muscle cells (HSkMCs) further validated the functional phenotype. Protein docking, co-IP and SPR were used to demonstrate protein-protein interactions.

Results

Both European and Asian populations revealed that AEBP1 was significantly associated with T2DM and its glycemic profile in blood and skeletal muscle, and was identified as a risk factor. Co-localisation analyses suggest that AEBP1 and T2DM originate from the same genetic variants. Meanwhile, targeted AEBP1 therapy has no potential adverse effects. Furthermore, AEBP1 was significantly expressed in in vivo and in vitro IR models and was consistent with the SMR results. Overexpression of AEBP1 further impaired insulin signalling and glucose transport mechanisms, exacerbating skeletal muscle IR. Targeting AEBP1 knockdown reversed these changes. Protein interaction experiments revealed that PI3K (p110β) is a direct target protein for AEBP1 to exert molecular functions.

Conclusion

Targeting AEBP1 therapy is expected to be a pivotal approach for the prevention and treatment of T2DM.