Senescence marker protein-30 (SMP30) was found to decrease in the liver, kidneys and lungs of mice during aging. SMP30 is a pleiotropic protein that acts to protect cells from apoptosis by enhancing plasma membrane Ca 2+ -pump activity and is bona fide gluconolactonase (EC 3.1.1.17) that participates in the penultimate step of the vitamin C biosynthetic pathway. For the past several years, we have obtained strong evidence showing the close relationship between SMP30, glucose metabolism disorder and non-alchoholic fatty liver disease in experiments with SMP30 knockout mice. Emerging proof links the following abnormalities: (i) the reduction of SMP30 by aging and/or excessive dietary fat or genetic deficiency causes a loss of Ca 2+ pumping activity, which impairs acute insulin release in pancreatic β-cells, initiates inflammatory responses with oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress in non-alchoholic steatohepatitis, exacerbates renal tubule damage, and introduces tubulointerstitial inflammation and fibrosis in diabetic nephropathy; (ii) vitamin C insufficiency also impairs acute insulin secretion in pancreatic β-cells by a mechanism distinct from that of the SMP30 deficiency; and (iii) the increased oxidative stress by concomitant deficiencies of SMP30, superoxide dismutase 1 and vitamin C similarly causes hepatic steatosis. Here, we review recent advances in our understanding of SMP30 in glucose metabolism disorder and non-alchoholic fatty liver disease. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2016; 16 (Suppl. 1): 4-16.Keywords: aging, diabetes mellitus, non-alchoholic fatty liver disease, senescence marker protein-30, vitamin C.
Senescence marker protein-30 and its knockout miceSenescence marker protein-30 (SMP30) was first discovered in 1991 as an age-associated protein that decreased quantifiably in livers of aged rats.1,2 Thereafter, SMP30 proved to decrease in the liver, kidneys and lungs of mice during aging.3-5 Immunohistochemical analysis in the liver and primary cultured hepatocytes showed that SMP30 staining appeared in some, but not all, parenchymal cells, and localized in both the nuclei and cytoplasm.5 Furthermore, SMP30-positive cells localized mainly around the central veins in the livers of mice, and decreased numerically with aging.5 As established by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis, SMP30 transcripts were detected in not only the liver, kidneys and lungs of mice, but also in their brain, thymus, heart, testes and ovary; however, no SMP30 transcripts were identified in the spleen. 4,6 In humans, SMP30 was seen in parenchymal cells of the liver, proximal tubular cells of the kidney, acinal and ductal cells of the pancreas, and fasciculate cells of the adrenal cortex by applying immunohistochemical stain. 2,7 The human SMP30 gene is located in the p11.3-q11.2 segment of the X chromosome, 8 and its amino acid sequences are highly conserved among vertebrates.
7SMP30 knockout mice were established as a laboratory strain to clarify the physiological functions and the relationships bet...