ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of PPARalpha activation on insulin signaling and lipid accumulation in the liver and skeletal muscle of insulin-resistant (ob/ob) mice. MATERIAL/METHODS: A known subtype-selective PPARalpha agonist, Wy-14,643, was administered to lean and ob/ob mice at 30 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks. Insulin (100 units/kg) or saline was injected into the portal vein of anesthetized mice. The liver and skeletal muscles were used for the detection of tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor (IR) and insulin receptor substrates (IRSs), as well as for the determination of both IRS-associated PI3-K activity and lipid content; in addition, the measurement of mRNA levels of PPAR-regulated genes was carried out. RESULTS: The PPARalpha agonist lowered plasma levels of glucose, insulin, triglycerides, and free fatty acids in ob/ob mice. Several PPARalpha-upregulated genes related to the transport and oxidation of fatty acids in the liver were increased by treatment with the agonist. The PPARalpha agonist significantly increased IR- and IRS-tyrosine phosphorylation and IRS-associated PI3-K activity in the liver and muscle of ob/ob mice, without exerting the same effects in lean mice. Moreover, these effects in ob/ob mice were accompanied by decreased triglyceride and fatty acyl-CoA contents in the liver and skeletal muscle. CONCLUSIONS: The present results suggest that inhibition of lipid accumulation by hepatic PPARalpha activation leads to an improvement in impaired insulin signaling in muscle tissue as well as in the liver of insulin-resistant mice.
Subject(s)
Insulin/pharmacology , Lipid Metabolism , Liver/metabolism , Muscles/metabolism , Obesity/metabolism , PPAR alpha/metabolism , Signal Transduction/drug effects , Animals , Biomarkers , Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects , Insulin/blood , Insulin Receptor Substrate Proteins , Liver/drug effects , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mice, Obese , Muscles/drug effects , PPAR alpha/agonists , Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism , Phosphoproteins/metabolism , Phosphotyrosine/metabolism , Pyrimidines/pharmacology , Receptor, Insulin/metabolismABSTRACT
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) is a key regulator in lipid metabolism and a potential therapeutic target for lipid-related metabolic diseases. It has been shown that there are species differences between human and mouse in response to several PPARalpha agonists in a transactivation assay. In the present study, we cloned a full length of dog PPARalpha and investigated the effects of a novel and potent agonist (KCL) for human PPARalpha. In a transactivation assay using the full length of PPARalpha, agonistic activity of KCL for dog PPARalpha (EC(50): 0.007 microM) was comparable to that for human PPARalpha (EC(50): 0.003 microM), but not that for rat PPARalpha (EC(50): 11.49 microM). Similar results were obtained from a transactivation assay using a GAL4/PPARalpha ligand-binding domain (LBD) chimera. A point-mutation study showed that I272 on PPARalphaLBD is a major contributor to species differences in response to KCL between human, dog, and rat PPARalpha. KCL also induced mRNA levels of HMG-CoA synthase in dog hepatocytes. When administered orally to dogs and rats, KCL significantly decreased plasma triglyceride levels in a dose-dependent manner. The triglyceride-lowering effects of KCL in dogs were >100-fold more potent than those in rats. These results suggest that KCL may induce activation of highly potent PPARalpha in humans as well as dogs, and that dog is a suitable animal model for studying and predicting the biological actions of potent agonists for human PPARalpha.
