Embryonic Vitamin D Deficiency Programs Hematopoietic Stem Cells to Induce Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract: Environmental factors may alter the fetal genome to cause metabolic diseases. It is unknown whether embryonic immune cell programming impacts the risk of type 2 diabetes in later life. We demonstrate that transplantation of fetal hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), made vitamin D deficient in utero, induces diabetes in vitamin D-sufficient mice. Vitamin D deficiency epigenetically suppresses Jarid2 expression and activates the Mef2/PGC1a pathway in HSCs, which persists in recipient bone marrow, resulting in adipose macrophage infiltration. These macrophages secrete miR106-5p, which promotes adipose insulin resistance by repressing PIK3 catalytic subunit alpha and AKT signaling. Vitamin D-deficient monocytes from human cord blood had comparable Jarid2/Mef2/PGC1a expression changes and secreted miR-106b-5p, causing adipocyte insulin resistance. These findings suggest that vitamin D deficiency during development has epigenetic consequences impacting the systemic metabolic milieu.