The multiple use of lectin-assisted glycan profiling enabled us to construct a reliable sandwich assay kit for monitoring liver fibrosis in patients with viral hepatitis. This will assist in the development pipeline for other glycodiagnostic agents.
Glucokinase (GK) plays a key role in the control of blood glucose homeostasis. We identified a small molecule GK activator, compound A, that increased the glucose affinity and maximal velocity (V max ) of GK. Compound A augmented insulin secretion from isolated rat islets and enhanced glucose utilization in primary cultured rat hepatocytes. In rat oral glucose tolerance tests, orally administrated compound A lowered plasma glucose elevation with a concomitant increase in plasma insulin and hepatic glycogen. In liver, GK activity is acutely controlled by its association to the glucokinase regulatory protein (GKRP). In order to decipher the molecular aspects of how GK activator affects the shuttling of GK between nucleus and cytoplasm, the effect of compound A on GK-GKRP interaction was further investigated. Compound A increased the level of cytoplasmic GK in both isolated rat primary hepatocytes and the liver tissues from rats. Experiments in a cell-free system revealed that compound A interacted with glucose-bound free GK, thereby impairing the association of GK and GKRP. On the other hand, compound A did not bind to glucose-unbound GK or GKRPassociated GK. Furthermore, we found that glucose-dependent GK-GKRP interaction also required ATP. Given the combined prominent role of GK on insulin secretion and hepatic glucose metabolism where the GK-GKRP mechanism is involved, activation of GK has a new therapeutic potential in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.There are three key aspects of type 2 diabetes pathogenesis, which are the focus of current and future therapies: insulin resistance, defective insulin secretion, and increased hepatic glucose production. Glucokinase (GK) 2 is the predominant glucose phosphorylation enzyme in pancreatic -cells and hepatocytes. GK plays an important role as a glucose sensor for controlling plasma glucose homeostasis by enhancing insulin secretion from pancreatic -cells and glucose metabolism in the liver (1, 2), which provides rational expectations that enhancement of GK activity would be a novel therapeutic strategy for type 2 diabetes. Consistent with this rationale, recently discovered small molecule allosteric activators of GK have been demonstrated to have antidiabetic efficacy in rodents (3, 4).To investigate the mechanism of action of GK activators, the interaction between GK and glucokinase regulatory protein (GKRP) is a key aspect. It is well known that hepatic GK activity is modulated by the endogenous inhibitor, glucokinase regulatory protein (GKRP) (5-8). GK is localized in the nucleus as an inactive complex with GKRP at low glucose concentrations and is dissociated from the GK⅐GKRP complex and translocated to the cytoplasm at high glucose concentrations, which triggers glucose disposal (9). Modulators of the GK-GKRP interaction have been shown to enhance hepatic glucose disposal (7). We recently solved the co-crystal structure of hepatic GK complex with GK activator, in which GK undergoes a large conformational change between the active and inactive forms at diffe...
We investigated the effect of glucokinase activator (GKA) on glucose metabolism and beta-cell mass. We analyzed four mouse groups: wild-type mice and beta-cell-specific haploinsufficiency of glucokinase gene (Gck(+/-)) mice on a high-fat (HF) diet. Each genotype was also treated with GKA mixed in the HF diet. Rodent insulinoma cells and isolated islets were used to evaluate beta-cell proliferation by GKA. After 20 wk on the above diets, there were no differences in body weight, lipid profiles, and liver triglyceride content among the four groups. Glucose tolerance was improved shortly after the GKA treatment in both genotypes of mice. beta-Cell mass increased in wild-type mice compared with Gck(+/-) mice, but a further increase was not observed after the administration of GKA in both genotypes. Interestingly, GKA was able to up-regulate insulin receptor substrate-2 (Irs-2) expression in insulinoma cells and isolated islets. The administration of GKA increased 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation in insulinoma cells, and 3 d administration of GKA markedly increased BrdU incorporation in mice treated with GKA in both genotypes, compared with those without GKA. In conclusion, GKA was able to chronically improve glucose metabolism for mice on the HF diet. Although chronic GKA administration failed to cause a further increase in beta-cell mass in vivo, GKA was able to increase beta cell proliferation in vitro and with a 3-d administration in vivo. This apparent discrepancy can be explained by a chronic reduction in ambient blood glucose levels by GKA treatment.
Experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) is mediated by myocardial infiltration by myosin-specific T-cells secreting inflammatory cytokines. In this study, rat models of EAM were prepared by injection with porcine cardiac myosin. One week after immunization, edaravone was administered intraperitoneally at 3 or 10 mg/kg/day to rats for 2 weeks. Cardiac function was measured by haemodynamic and echocardiographic studies and TUNEL assay was performed. Left ventricular (LV) expression of NADPH oxidase sub-units (p47(phox) and p67(phox)), pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-alpha), endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress signalling proteins (GRP78, caspase-12 and GADD153) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family proteins (phospho-p38 MAPK and phospho-JNK) were measured by western blotting. Edaravone improved LV function in a dose-dependent manner. Central venous pressure was significantly low and LV ejection fraction and fractional shortening was significantly high in edaravone groups compared with those in the vehicle group. In addition, edaravone treatment down-regulated LV expressions of p47(phox), TNF-alpha, GADD153, phospho-p38 MAPK and phospho-JNK. Furthermore, the LV expressions of p67(phox), GRP78, caspase-12 and TUNEL-positive cells of rats with EAM treated with edaravone were significantly low compared with those of the vehicle group. These findings suggest that edaravone ameliorated the progression of EAM by inhibiting oxidative and ER stress and, subsequently, cardiac apoptosis.
We investigated the long‐term effect of a glucokinase (GK) activator (GKA) on the changes in hepatic gene expression, glucose metabolism, lipid profiles and hepatic function in wild‐type mice and the haploinsufficiency of β‐cell‐specific GK mice on a high‐fat (HF) diet. Twenty weeks of GKA treatment had no effect on hepatic GK activity or expression of genes related to glucose or lipid metabolism, suggesting that chronic GK activation by GKA showed a sustained reduction of ambient blood glucose levels without causing significant impact on hepatic lipid and glucose metabolisms. Furthermore, GKA exerted glucose‐lowering efficacy lasted for up to 40 weeks without increasing bodyweight or exerting adverse effects on lipid metabolism or hepatic function in either genotype on the HF diet. The present results show that GKA is capable of chronically improving glucose metabolism in mice on the HF diet without exerting a harmful influence on their lipid profile or hepatic function. (J Diabetes Invest,doi: 10.1111/j.2040‐1124.2011.00103.x, 2011)
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