Inhibition of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene expression by metformin in cultured hepatocytes

Objective To investigate the effect and mechanism of the antihyperglycemic agent metformin on the expression of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) gene in hepatocytes and to determine whether the effects of metformin in hepatocytes are transmitted throughout the known insulin signaling pathways Methods Confluent H4IIE rat heptoma cells were cultured for 16 h with 0 1 mmol/L metformin either in absence or presence of 0 1 nmol/L insulin, and then stimulated with various agents The expression of PEPCK gene was examined by Northern blot analysis Results Therapeutic concentrations of metformin significantly inhibited basal PEPCK mRNA expression and also decreased cAMP and dexamethasone induced PEPCK gene expression through interaction with insulin In the presence of insulin signaling pathway inhibitors wortmannin and UO126, metformin reduced PEPCK mRNA levels, but wortmannin blocked inhibitory regulation of insulin on PEPCK gene expression Conclusion Metformin inhibits PEPCK gene expression via either an insulin independent or an interacting with insulin manner The results suggest that a possible mechanism by which metformin reduces gluconeogenesis could be associated with the inhibition of PEPCK gene expression

Exchange of a nuclear corepressor between NF-kB and CREB mediates inhibition of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase transcription by NF-kB

Background NF-KB p65 was shown to inhibit transcription of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase （PEPCK）, a rate-limiting enzyme in gluconeogenesis in the liver. To understand the mechanism of action of NF-KB p65, we investigated the nuclear receptor corepressor in the regulation of PEPCK transcription. Methods Rat H411E cells, human hepatoma HepG2 cells and human embryo kidney （HEK） 293 cells were used in this study. The transcriptional activity of a rat PEPCK gene promoter （-490/＋100） was analyzed in HepG2 cells, a HepG2 super suppressor IkBa （sslkBa） stable cell line, and HEK 293 cells. The effects of p65 and sslkBa on a rat PEPCK gene promoter were observed using the PEPCK luciferase reporter system. The interaction of the cAMP-response- element-binding （CREB） protein, histone deacetylase 3 （HDAC3） and silencing mediator for retinoic and thyroid hormone receptors （SMRT） with the PEPCK gene promoter were investigated using the chromatin immunoprecipitation （CHIP） assay, p65 cotransfection and RNAi-mediated gene knockdown were used to determine the corepressor involved in the inhibition of PEPCK by NF-KB p65 and the transcriptional regulation of CREB by NF-KB p65. Results NF-KB p65 inhibited PEPCK expression and the inhibition was blocked by sslkBa. The inhibitory effect of p65 was completely blocked in a HepG2 stable cell line in which sslkBa was expressed. HDAC3 or SMRT knockdown led to a significant up-regulation of PEPCK reporter activity in the presence of p65 cotransfection. In the ChIP assay the interaction of HDAC3 and SMRT with the PEPCK gene promoter was induced by p65 activation, but the CREB signal was reduced. Transcriptional activity of CREB was inhibited by NF-kB p65 cotransfection. The inhibitory effect of NF-kB p65 was blocked by HDAC3 RNAi or SMRT RNAi. Conculsions The study showed that the inhibition of PEPCK by NF-kB p65 was dependent on HDAC3 and SMRT, which form a nuclear corepressor complex for transcriptional inhibition. The transcription factors NF-kB p65 and CREB share the same corepressor HDAC3-SMRT, and the corepressor exchange leads to inhibition of PEPCK gene transcription by NF-kB p65.

The LncRNA FEZF1-AS1 promotes tumor proliferation in colon cancer by regulating the mitochondrial protein PCK2

LncRNAs and metabolism represents two factors involved in cancer initiation and progression.However,the interaction between lncRNAs and metabolism remains to be fully explored.In this study,lncRNA FEZF1-AS1(FEZF1-AS1)was found upregulated in colon cancer after screening all the lncRNAs of colon cancer tissues deposited in TCGA,the result of which was further confirmed by RNAscope staining on a colon tissue chip.The results obtained using FEZF1-AS1 knockout colon cancer cells(SW480 KO and HCT-116 KO)constructed using CRISPR/Cas9 system confirmed the proliferation,invasion,and migration-promoting function of FEZF1-AS1 in vitro.Mechanistically,FEZF1-AS1 associated with the mitochondrial protein phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase(PCK2),which plays an essential role in regulating energy metabolism in the mitochondria.Knockdown of FEZF1-AS1 greatly decreased PCK2 protein levels,broke the homeostasis of energy metabolism in the mitochondria,and inhibited proliferation,invasion,and migration of SW480 and HCT-116 cells.PCK2 overexpression in FEZF1-AS1 knockout cells partially rescued the tumor inhibitory effect on colon cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo.Moreover,PCK2 overexpression specifically rescued the abnormal accumulation of Flavin mononucleotide(FMN)and succinate,both of which play an important role in oxidative phosphorylation(OXPHOS).Overall,these results indicate that FEZF1-AS1 is an oncogene through regulating energy metabolism of the cell.This research reveals a new mechanism for lncRNAs to regulate colon cancer and provides a potential target for colon cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Hepatic retinaldehyde deficiency is involved in diabetes deterioration by enhancing PCK1-and G6PC-mediated gluconeogenesis

Type 2 diabetes(T2D) is often accompanied with an induction of retinaldehyde dehydrogenase 1(RALDH1 or ALDH1A1) expression and a consequent decrease in hepatic retinaldehyde(Rald)levels. However, the role of hepatic Rald deficiency in T2D progression remains unclear. In this study, we demonstrated that reversing T2D-mediated hepatic Rald deficiency by Rald or citral treatments, or liverspecific Raldh1 silencing substantially lowered fasting glycemia levels, inhibited hepatic glucogenesis,and downregulated phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1(PCK1) and glucose-6-phosphatase(G6PC)expression in diabetic db/db mice. Fasting glycemia and Pck1/G6pc mRNA expression levels were strongly negatively correlated with hepatic Rald levels, indicating the involvement of hepatic Rald depletion in T2D deterioration. A similar result that liver-specific Raldh1 silencing improved glucose metabolism was also observed in high-fat diet-fed mice. In primary human hepatocytes and oleic acidtreated HepG2 cells, Rald or Rald + RALDH1 silencing resulted in decreased glucose production and downregulated PCK1/G6PC mRNA and protein expression. Mechanistically, Rald downregulated direct repeat 1-mediated PCK1 and G6PC expression by antagonizing retinoid X receptor a, as confirmed by luciferase reporter assays and molecular docking. These results highlight the link between hepatic Rald deficiency, glucose dyshomeostasis, and the progression of T2D, whilst also suggesting RALDH1 as a potential therapeutic target for T2D.

Increased hepatic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor coactivator-la expression precedes the development of insulin resistance in offspring of rats from severe hyperglycemic mothers

Background Prenatal hyperglycaemia may increase metabolic syndrome susceptibility of the offspring. An underlying component of the development of these morbidities is hepatic gluconeogenic molecular dysfunction. We hypothesized that maternal hyperglycaemia will influence her offsprings hepatic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor coactivator-la （PGC-la） expression, a key regulator of glucose production in hepatocytes. Method We established maternal hyperglycaemia by streptozotocin injection to induce the maternal hyperglycaemic Wistar rat model. Offspring from the severe hyperglycemia group （SDO） and control group （CO） were monitored until 180 days after birth. Blood pressure, lipid metabolism indicators and insulin resistance （IR） were measured. Hepatic PGC-la expression was analyzed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting, mRNA expression of two key enzymes in gluconeogenesis, glucose-6-phospha-tase （G-6-Pase） and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase （PEPCK）, were analyzed and compared. Results In the SDO group, PGC-la expression at protein and mRNA levels were increased, so were expression of G-6-Pase and PEPCK （P〈0.05）. The above effects were seen prior to the onset of IR. Conclusion The hepatic gluconeogenic molecular dysfunction may contribute to the metabolic morbidities experienced by this population.

Identification of Conserved Regulatory Elements in Mammalian Promoter Regions:A Case Study Using the PCK1 Promoter

A systematic phylogenetic footprinting approach was performed to identify conserved transcription factor binding sites （TFBSs） in mammalian promoter regions using human, mouse and rat sequence alignments. We found that the score distributions of most binding site models did not follow the Gaussian distribution required by many statistical methods. Therefore, we performed an empirical test to establish the optimal threshold for each model. We gauged our computational predictions by comparing with previously known TFBSs in the PCK1 gene promoter of the cytosolic isoform of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, and achieved a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of approximately 32% Almost all known sites overlapped with predicted sites, and several new putative TFBSs were also identified. We validated a predicted SP1 binding site in the control of PCK1 transcription using gel shift and reporter assays. Finally, we applied our computational approach to the prediction of putative TFBSs within the promoter regions of all available RefSeq genes. Our full set of TFBS predictions is freely available at http：//bfgl.anri.barc.usda.gov/tfbsConsSites.