To evaluate whether metformin enhances leptin sensitivity, we measured leptin sensitivity after 4 weeks of metformin treatment (300 mg/kg daily) in both standard chow and high-fat-fed obese rats. Anorexic and fat-losing responses after intracerebroventricular leptin infusion for 7 days (15 g daily per rat) in standard chow rats were enhanced by metformin treatment, and these responses to leptin were attenuated in high-fat-fed obese rats compared with age-matched standard chow rats. However, these responses to leptin were corrected by metformin treatment in high-fat-fed obese rats. Moreover, serum concentrations of leptin and insulin were decreased dramatically by leptin in metformin-treated standard chow and high-fat-fed obese rats. The hypothalamic phosphorylated AMP-activated protein kinase level was decreased by lower leptin dose in metformin-treated rats than in untreated rats. In an acute study, metformin treatment also increased the anorexic effect of leptin (5 g), and this was accompanied by an increased level of phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 in the hypothalamus. These results suggest that metformin enhances leptin sensitivity and corrects leptin resistance in high-fat-fed obese rats and that a combination therapy including metformin and leptin would be helpful in the treatment of obesity. Diabetes 55:716 -724, 2006 L eptin, an adipocyte-derived hormone, contributes to body weight homeostasis by regulating food intake and energy expenditure (1). However, leptin is not widely used in the clinical field because obesity is accompanied by elevated serum leptin and responds poorly to the pharmacological administration of exogenous leptin, which ordinarily potently promotes fat mass loss and body weight reduction in lean subjects (2,3); moreover, this poor response of obese subjects is a characteristic of leptin resistance. Thus, the correction of leptin resistance in obese individuals would allow leptin to be used to treat obesity.Metformin, an oral biguanide insulin-sensitizing agent, inhibits hepatic glucose production, enhances the effects of insulin on glucose uptake in skeletal muscles and adipocytes, and decreases intestinal absorption of glucose (4 -7). It is also well known that metformin administration reduces body weight (8,9). Moreover, metformin decreases leptin concentration in morbidly obese subjects (9,10) and in normal-weight healthy men (11). Although leptin concentration is closely related to body fat mass, the leptin-reducing effect of metformin cannot be fully explained by body weight reduction because metformin reduces leptin level even without changing body weight in normal-weight healthy men (11). However, the mechanisms by which metformin reduces body weight and leptin concentration are poorly understood. In addition, it has been recently reported that metformin targets AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which is also activated by leptin (12-14). The above findings imply that a more delicate interaction takes place between metformin and leptin. We h...

Differentiation of muscle satellite cells (MSCs) involves interaction of the proteins present in the extracellular matrix (ECM) with MSCs to regulate their activity, and therefore phenotype. Herein, we report fibromodulin (FMOD), a member of the proteoglycan family participating in the assembly of ECM, as a novel regulator of myostatin (MSTN) during myoblast differentiation. In addition to having a pronounced effect on the expression of myogenic marker genes [myogenin (MYOG) and myosin light chain 2 (MYL2)], FMOD was found to maintain the transcriptional activity of MSTN Moreover, coimmunoprecipitation and in silico studies performed to investigate the interaction of FMOD helped confirm that it antagonizes MSTN function by distorting its folding and preventing its binding to activin receptor type IIB. Furthermore, in vivo studies revealed that FMOD plays an active role in healing by increasing satellite cell recruitment to sites of injury. Together, these findings disclose a hitherto unrecognized regulatory role for FMOD in MSCs and highlight new mechanisms whereby FMOD circumvents the inhibitory effects of MSTN and triggers myoblast differentiation. These findings offer a basis for the design of novel MSTN inhibitors that promote muscle regeneration after injury or for the development of pharmaceutical agents for the treatment of different muscle atrophies.-Lee, E. J., Jan, A. T., Baig, M. H., Ashraf, J. M., Nahm, S.-S., Kim, Y.-W., Park, S.-Y., Choi, I. Fibromodulin: a master regulator of myostatin controlling progression of satellite cells through a myogenic program.

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Abstract. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation has an antiapoptotic effect in endothelial cells, but the mechanisms involved remain unclear. Here, we investigated whether AMPK activation could inhibit palmitate-induced apoptosis through suppression of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in bovine aortic endothelial cells. Palmitate increases ROS generation and thereby p38 activation, which leads to apoptosis in bovine aortic endothelial cells. The AMPK activator 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-D-ribofuranoside (AICAR) and constitutive active AMPK inhibit palmitate-induced apoptosis through suppression of ROS. The AMPK inhibitor compound C, dominant-negative AMPK, and the uncoupling protein inhibitor guanosine diphosphate block the antiapoptotic and antioxidative effects of AICAR. The increase in uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) by AICAR is also suppressed by compound C and guanosine diphosphate. AICAR-mediated suppression of palmitate-induced p38 activation is also inhibited by guanosine diphosphate. Over-expression of UCP2 inhibits palmitate-induced apoptosis and ROS generation. These data suggest that the activation of AMPK inhibits palmitate-induced endothelial cell apoptosis through the suppression of ROS generation, and UCP-2 may be one of possible mediators of the antioxidative effect of AMPK.

Recent theoretical works exploring the hydrodynamics of soft material in non-equilibrium situations are reviewed. We discuss the role of hydrodynamic interactions for three different systems: i) the deformation and orientation of sedimenting semiflexible polymers, ii) the propulsion and force-rectification with a nano-machine realized by a rotating elastic rod, and iii) the deformation of a brush made of grafted semiflexible polymers in shear flows. In all these examples deformable polymers are subject to various hydrodynamic flows and hydrodynamic interactions. Perfect stiff nano-cylinders are known to show no orientational effects as they sediment through a viscous fluid, but it is the coupling between elasticity and hydrodynamic torques that leads to an orientation perpendicular to the direction of sedimentation. Likewise, a rotating stiff rod does not lead to a net propulsion in the Stokes limit, but if bending is allowed an effective thrust develops whose strength and direction is independent of the sense of rotation and thus acts as a rectification device. Lastly, surface-anchored polymers are deformed by shear flows, which modifies the effective hydrodynamic boundary condition in a non-linear fashion. All these results are obtained with hydrodynamic Brownian dynamics simulation techniques, as appropriate for dilute systems. Scaling analyses are presented when possible. The common theme is the interaction between elasticity of soft matter and hydrodynamics, which can lead to qualitatively new effects.

The present study examined whether adiponectin can inhibit palmitate-induced apoptosis, and also the associated mechanisms and signal transduction pathways in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Cells treated with 500 mM palmitate for 48 h increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and induced apoptosis. Treatment with antioxidant N-acetyl-L-cysteine (1 mM) and globular adiponectin (5 mg/ml) inhibited palmitate-induced ROS generation and apoptosis. The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activator 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-b-D-ribofuranoside (AICAR; 1 mM), and cAMP activators forskolin (10 mM) and cholera toxin (200 ng/ml) also displayed the same effects. The inhibitory effects of adiponectin on ROS generation and apoptosis were reversed by the AMPK inhibitor compound C (40 mM), cAMP inhibitor SQ22536 (50 mM), and protein kinase A (PKA) inhibitor H-89 (10 mM). The inhibitory effect of forskolin on palmitateinduced apoptosis was reversed by compound C, whereas the inhibitory effect of AICAR was not reversed by SQ22536 and H-89. AICAR and forskolin could not inhibit palmitate-induced apoptosis in cells treated with dominantnegative AMPK. Forskolin increased phosphorylated AMPK at both Thr-172 and Ser-485/491. These results suggest that adiponectin inhibits palmitate-induced apoptosis by suppression of ROS generation via both the cAMP/PKA and AMPK pathways. Interaction between cAMP/PKA and AMPK pathways may be involved.

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Leptin, an adipocyte-secreted hormone that regulates food intake and metabolic response, has been recently reported to increase in the serum during inflammatory airway disease associated with mucus-hypersecretion. We investigated the effects of leptin on mucin expression in human airway epithelial cells and the signaling pathways. The expression of the leptin receptor was evaluated in human nasal mucosa and NCI-H292 cells. Leptin-induced expression of major respiratory mucins in NCI-H292 cells was analyzed. Mutant leptin, which acts as a receptor antagonist, and specific inhibitors of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2), p38 and Janus kinase-2 (JAK2)/signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (STAT3) were used. Leptin receptors were expressed in the nasal mucosa and NCI-H292 cells. Treatment with leptin significantly increased the expression of MUC5AC and MUC5B in NCI-H292 cells; these effects were blocked by mutant leptin. The cells activated by leptin showed increased ERK1/2, p38, and STAT3 phosphorylation. Leptin-induced MUC5B expression was blocked by the ERK1/2 and p38 pathway inhibitors, but not by the JAK2/STAT3 pathway inhibitor. Leptin might significantly contribute to the production of major gel-forming mucins by direct stimulation of airway epithelial cells and the activation of leptin receptors coupled with the activation of ERK1/2 or p38, but not the JAK2/STAT3 pathway.