AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is activated in adipocytes during exercise and other states in which lipolysis is stimulated. However, the mechanism(s) responsible for this effect and its physiological relevance are unclear. To examine these questions, 3T3-L1 adipocytes were treated with cAMP-inducing agents (isoproterenol, forskolin, and isobutylmethylxanthine), which stimulate lipolysis and activate AMPK. When lipolysis was partially inhibited with the general lipase inhibitor orlistat, AMPK activation by these agents was also partially reduced, but the increases in cAMP levels and cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) activity were unaffected. Likewise, small hairpin RNA-mediated silencing of adipose tissue triglyceride lipase inhibited both forskolin-stimulated lipolysis and AMPK activation but not that of PKA. Forskolin treatment increased the AMP:ATP ratio, and this too was reduced by orlistat. When acyl-CoA synthetase, which catalyzes the conversion of fatty acids to fatty acyl-CoA, was inhibited with triacsin C, the increases in both AMPK activity and AMP:ATP ratio were blunted. Isoproterenol-stimulated lipolysis was accompanied by an increase in oxidative stress, an effect that was quintupled in cells incubated with the AMPK inhibitor compound C. The isoproterenol-induced increase in the AMP:ATP ratio was also much greater in these cells. In conclusion, the results indicate that activation of AMPK in adipocytes by cAMP-inducing agents is a consequence of lipolysis and not of PKA activation. They suggest that AMPK activation in this setting is caused by an increase in the AMP:ATP ratio that appears to be due, at least in part, to the acylation of fatty acids. Finally, this AMPK activation appears to restrain the energy depletion and oxidative stress caused by lipolysis.
AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)2 is a sensor of cellular energy state that responds to metabolic stresses and other regulatory signals. The mechanism of activation of AMPK is a complex phenomenon and is still not fully understood, although it is recognized that it involves phosphorylation of the critical Thr-172 residue of its ␣ catalytic subunit by upstream kinases such as LKB1, Ca 2ϩ -calmodulin-dependent protein kinase kinase, and possibly Tak1, a member of the mitogenactivated protein kinase kinase kinase family (1-5). AMPK is also regulated by AMP allosterically and the current view is that this both increases AMPK activity directly and makes it a poorer substrate for phosphatases (6).The role and regulation of AMPK in muscle, liver, and various cultured cells have been extensively studied. It is now well established that energy depletion because of starvation, hypoxia, and exercise increases the intracellular AMP:ATP ratio and secondarily AMPK activity (7). Upon its activation, a major role of AMPK is to replete cellular energy stores by stimulating processes that generate ATP, such as fatty acid oxidation, and inhibiting ATP-consuming pathways (e.g. lipogenesis, triglyceride synthesis, and gluconeogenesis) that are not acutel...
