Effect of forkhead box O1 (FOXO1) on beta cell development in the human fetal pancreas

Recent studies have demonstrated that in adult murine beta cells the forkhead box O1 (FOXO1) transcription factor regulates proliferation and stress resistance. However, the role of FOXO1 during pancreatic development remains largely unknown. The present study aimed to characterise the expression of the FOXO1 transcription factor in the early to mid-gestation human fetal pancreas and to understand its role in islet cell development.

Nuclear and cytoplasmic FOXO1 were widely produced during human fetal endocrine pancreatic development, co-localising in cells with the transcription factors pancreatic and duodenal homeobox 1 (PDX-1) and neurogenin 3 (NGN3) as well as cytokeratin 19 (CK19), insulin and glucagon. Treatment with exogenous insulin (50 nmol/l) induced the nuclear exclusion of FOXO1 in both cytokeratin 19 (CK19)⁺ (p < 0.01) and insulin⁺ cells (p < 0.05) in parallel with increased phospho-Akt (p < 0.05) production. siRNA knockdown of FOXO1 significantly increased the number of NGN3⁺ (p < 0.01) and NK6 homeobox 1 (NKX6-1)⁺ (p < 0.05) cells in parallel with increases in insulin gene expression (p < 0.03) and C-peptide⁺ cells (p < 0.05) and reduced levels of hairy and enhancer of split 1 (HES1) (p < 0.01).

Our results indicate that FOXO1 may negatively regulate beta cell differentiation in the human fetal pancreas by controlling critical transcription factors, including NGN3 and NKX6-1. These data suggest that the manipulation of FOXO1 levels may be a useful tool for improving cell-based strategies for the treatment of diabetes.