T Induces Both Markers of Maturation and Aging in Pancreatic β-Cells.

Previously, we showed that thyroid hormone (TH) triiodothyronine (T) enhanced β-cell functional maturation through induction of High levels of T have been linked to decreased life span in mammals and low levels to lengthened life span, suggesting a relationship between TH and aging. Here, we show that T increased (a β-cell senescence marker and effector) mRNA in rodent and human β-cells. The kinetics of and induction suggested both genes as targets of TH via TH receptors (THRs) binding to specific response elements. Using specific agonists CO23 and GC1, we showed that expression was controlled by THRA and by THRB. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation and a transient transfection yielding biotinylated THRB1 or THRA isoforms to achieve specificity, we determined that THRA isoform bound to , whereas THRB1 bound to but not to On a cellular level, T treatment accelerated cell senescence as shown by increased number of β-cells with acidic β-galactosidase activity. Our data show that T can simultaneously induce both maturation () and aging ( ) effectors and that these dichotomous effects are mediated through different THR isoforms. These findings may be important for further improving stem cell differentiation protocols to produce functional β-cells for replacement therapies in diabetes.