Cloning and characterization of the mouse glucokinase gene locus and identification of distal liver-specific DNase I hypersensitive sites.

We cloned and characterized an 83-kb fragment of mouse genomic DNA containing the entire glucokinase (GK) gene. The 11 exons of the gene span a total distance of 49 kb, with exons 1 beta and 1L being separated by 35 kb. A total of 25,266 bp of DNA sequence information was determined: from approximately -9.2 to approximately +15 kb (24,195 bp), relative to the hepatocyte transcription start site, and from -335 to +736 bp (1071 bp), relative to the transcription start site in beta cells. These sequences revealed that mouse GK is > 94% identical to rat and human GK. Mouse hepatic GK mRNA is regulated by fasting and refeeding, as also occurs in the rat. Alignment of the upstream and downstream promoter regions of the mouse, rat, and human genes revealed several evolutionarily conserved regions that may contribute to transcriptional regulation. However, fusion gene studies in transgenic mice indicate that the conserved regions near the transcription start site in hepatocytes are themselves not sufficient for position-independent expression in liver. Analysis of the chromatin structure of a 48-kb region of the mouse gene using DNase I revealed eight liver-specific hypersensitive sites whose locations ranged from 0.1 to 36 kb upstream of the liver transcription start site. The availability of a single, contiguous DNA fragment containing the entire mouse GK gene should allow further studies of cell-specific expression of GK to be performed.

Regulation of lipogenic enzyme and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene expression in cultured white adipose tissue. Glucose and insulin effects are antagonized by cAMP.

In cultured adipose tissue of suckling rats, glucose alone is able to induce the appearance of fatty-acid synthase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase mRNA by a mechanism involving glucose-6-phosphate accumulation; insulin alone has no effect but potentiates the effect of glucose. In the present study, we have analysed in cultured adipose tissue the effects of other hormones on the expression of these enzymes as well as on phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. Triiodothyronine has only a marginal effect on fatty-acid synthase expression, in the absence or presence of glucose and insulin. A synthetic glucocorticoid, dexamethasone, opposes the inductive effect of glucose and insulin on fatty-acid synthase expression but increases the expression of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. A beta-agonist, isoproterenol totally inhibits the inductive effect of glucose and insulin on acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty-acid synthase expression whereas it increases the expression of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. Similarly, glucagon and cAMP have antagonistic effects on glucose and insulin-induced fatty-acid synthase expression. These inhibitory effects cannot be explained only by a reduction in glucose-6-phosphate concentration. We conclude that, in adipose tissue, dexamethasone and cAMP-generating hormones are negative regulators of lipogenic enzyme expression. Finally, the regulation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase expression in adipose tissue is similar to that found in the liver, i.e. inhibition by insulin and glucose and activation by glucocorticoids and cAMP.

Effect of acarbose on glucose homeostasis, lipogenesis and lipogenic enzyme gene expression in adipose tissue of weaned rats.

Acarbose is a potent intestinal glucosidase inhibitor which could have an anti-obesity property by reducing postprandial plasma glucose and insulin levels, potentially responsible for high rates of lipid synthesis in adipose tissue. We have tested this hypothesis by studying rats during the weaning period, when the lipogenic capacity of the adipose tissue develops. Rats were treated from age 19 days onwards with acarbose (10 mg/100 g diet) and studied at age 30 days. Acarbose was efficient in reducing postprandial excursions of both blood glucose and plasma insulin. Acarbose-treated rats behave like rats continuously infused with glucose with no metabolic signs of carbohydrate deprivation since gluconeogenesis was not activated. There was no massive caecal fermentation of carbohydrate since volatile fatty acids did not significantly increase in the portal blood. One of the most striking features of the acarbose-treated rats was the reduction of adipose tissue weight due to a reduced adipocyte size. This was concomitant with a reduced lipogenic capacity from glucose in isolated adipocytes under insulin stimulation. The activity of fatty acid synthase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase was decreased concomitantly with a reduced expression of their specific mRNA. This study allows the conclusion that postprandial hyperinsulinaemia and hyperglycaemia have a major role in the control of expression of lipogenic enzymes and thus on adipose tissue lipogenic capacity.

Glucose stimulation of lipogenic enzyme gene expression in cultured white adipose tissue. A role for glucose 6-phosphate.

The expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) is low in the adipose tissue of suckling rats and increases markedly at weaning to a high carbohydrate diet. We have studied in vitro the factors regulating this phenomenon. Inguinal adipose tissue pieces from 19-day-old suckling rats were cultured for 6 or 24 h in minimal essential medium. Insulin (100 nM) added in the presence of lactate and pyruvate did not stimulate the expression of FAS and ACC. Glucose (20 mM) alone resulted in a 5-7-fold increase of FAS and ACC mRNA. Insulin potentiated the effect of glucose. 3-O-Methylglucose, a glucose analog that is transported into the cell but not metabolized, had no effect on FAS and ACC mRNA accumulation. However, 2-deoxyglucose (1 mM), a glucose analog which is phosphorylated to 2-deoxyglucose 6-phosphate, stimulated the expression of FAS and ACC to the same extent as 20 mM glucose. Glucose 6-phosphate concentrations in adipose tissue pieces cultured in various conditions changed in parallel with the FAS and ACC mRNA levels. We conclude that glucose 6-phosphate could be the metabolite involved in the stimulation of lipogenic enzyme gene expression in response to glucose.

Effect of diets rich in medium-chain and long-chain triglycerides on lipogenic-enzyme gene expression in liver and adipose tissue of the weaned rat.

The activity and mRNA concentrations of two lipogenic enzymes, fatty-acid synthase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase were measured in the liver and white adipose tissue of rats weaned to a carbohydrate-rich diet containing either long-chain or medium-chain fatty acids, and compared to those of rats weaned on a diet containing less than 1% (total energy) fat (high-carbohydrate diet). In the liver, the diet containing long-chain fatty acids inhibited the increase of both lipogenic-enzyme mRNA concentrations and activities seen at weaning on the high-carbohydrate diet but did not prevent the decrease in phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase mRNA and activity. In contrast, the diet containing medium-chain fatty acids induced a slower but finally similar increase in lipogenic-enzyme mRNA concentrations and activities. In adipose tissue, a similar trend was observed, although the inhibitory effect of the diet containing long-chain fatty acids was considerably less marked than in liver. It is concluded that medium-chain and long-chain fatty acids have not the same inhibitory potency of the gene expression of lipogenic enzymes, and that long-chain fatty acids have a more marked effect in the liver.

Na(+)-dependent transport of alanine and serine by liver plasma-membrane vesicles from rats fed a low-protein or a high-protein diet.

Plasma-membrane vesicles prepared from the liver of rats fed either a low-(LP) or a high-protein (HP) diet exhibited Na(+)-dependent active transport of alanine and serine. The process gave apparent kinetic parameters compatible with a single saturable component for both amino acids. Na,K-ATPase (EC 3.6.1.37), marker of the basolateral domain of the hepatocyte plasma-membrane, was chosen as reference for the expression of amino acid transport in vesicle preparations. The high-protein diet induced a significant increase in liver Na,K-ATPase activity also found in corresponding plasma-membrane preparations, in parallel with an increase in the capacity towards amino acid transport. This suggests that in rats fed the high protein diet, transcellular Na+ exchange, although increased, remains well balanced. N-Methylaminoisobutyric acid (MeAIB), due to its poor velocity, proved unsuitable to distinguish between systems A and ASC in the experimental model. Comparing Na(+)- and Li(+)-driven transport, a family of carriers with strict Na(+)-dependency (A-like) was evidenced in LP vesicles but not in HP vesicles. The sensitivity to the lowering of the pH from 7.5 to 6.5 in the external medium was similar in both type of vesicles when Na+ was the driving ion. In the HP vesicles the Li(+)-tolerant, pH-insensitive component (ASC-like) was increased in parallel with overall Na(+)-dependent transport. These functional properties suggest that the carriers involved in the stimulation of transport in HP vesicles are composite in nature. Increasing concentrations of an amino acid mixture mimicking the changes of portal aminoacidemia inhibited the transport of alanine and of serine. The degree of inhibition was correlated with the relative concentration of substrate and was independent of the nutritional treatment.

Improved recovery of rat liver fractions enriched in lysosomes by specific alteration of the sedimentation properties of mitochondria.

A method for the preparation of lysosomes from rat liver is presented. The procedure requires only standard equipment and is completed within less than 3 h. Homogenization and differential centrifugation were performed at pH 7.4 in isotonic potassium phosphate-buffered sucrose medium. The addition of potassium phosphate, at the concentration used (10 mM), accelerated the sedimentation rate of mitochondria without altering that of lysosomes resulting in the decrease in the mitochondrial contamination of the final pellet. Further purification was achieved by isopycnic centrifugation in 45% isotonic Percoll performed in an angle rotor. Lysosomal fractions representing 51.5% of the original population were recovered over a density range of 1.09 to 1.15 g/ml. The most purified fraction (37-fold purified) contained 25.3% of lysosomal beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase, and only 0.9% of mitochondrial monoamine oxidase and 0.6% of peroxisomal urate oxidase original activities. It was practically devoid to endoplasmic reticulum contamination.