Covalent Binding of Thioredoxin to TXNIP is Required for Diet-induced Hepatic Insulin Resistance in the Liver

Among vertebrate animals, mammals have retained a unique molecular change that allows an intracellular arrestin domain-containing protein to bind covalently to thioredoxin. This interaction of Thioredoxin-Interacting Protein (TXNIP) with thioredoxin can only occur when thioredoxin is in the reduced state, allowing TXNIP to "sense" the cellular oxidized environment1. Here we show that a single cysteine in TXNIP mediates the development of hepatic insulin resistance in the setting of a high fat diet (HFD). Mice with exchange of TXNIP Cysteine 247 for Serine (C247S) showed improved whole-body and hepatic insulin sensitivities compared to wildtype (WT) controls following an 8-week HFD. The inhibition of the TXNIP-thioredoxin interaction under chow and HFD also regulated plasma and liver lipids and reduced free fatty acid accumulation in the livers following HFD. These data show that mammals have a single amino acid enabling interaction of redox state with TXNIP that mediates insulin resistance in the setting of a high-fat diet. This reveals a potential evolutionarily-conserved mechanism for hepatic insulin resistance in metabolic syndromes.