Depolarization of neuronal cells in primary culture from the rat brain by potassium ions in the presence of calcium or by veratridine caused a greater than threefold stimulation of release of immunoreactive insulin. HPLC of the released insulin immunoreactivity from the neuronal cultures comigrated with the two rat insulins. The depolarization‐induced release of insulin was inhibited by cycloheximide and was specific for neuronal cultures since potassium ions failed to cause the release in comparably prepared astrocytic glial cells from the rat brain. Prelabelling of neuronal cultures with [3H]leucine followed by depolarization resulted in the release of radioactivity that immunoprecipitated with insulin antibody. The release of [3H]insulin was biphasic. These observations suggest that neuronal cells from the brain have the capacity to synthesize insulin that could be released under depolarization conditions.

We have demonstrated the expression of the rat brain/HepG2 glucose transporter gene in primary cultures of rat neuronal and glial cells by Northern blot analysis with a rat brain glucose transporter cDNA probe. Incubation of both neuronal and glial cells with insulin and insulin-like growth factor-I induced a time- and dose-dependent increase in the steady state levels of glucose transporter mRNA. The maximal response was achieved between 2-4 h and subsequently decreased. Both insulin and insulin-like growth factor-I at a dose of 1 ng/ml elicited an approximately 57% increase in glucose transporter mRNA levels in neuronal cultures after 90 min, suggesting that each peptide was acting through its own receptor. On the other hand, insulin stimulated [3H]2-deoxyglucose uptake in glial, but not neuronal, cells. These results suggest that insulin-like peptides regulate the expression of the rat brain/Hep G2 glucose transporter gene at both transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels, and that these regulatory mechanisms may be dissociated from each other. Insulin-like peptides may, therefore, participate in the control of brain energy metabolism.

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