Whole body overexpression of PGC-1alpha has opposite effects on hepatic and muscle insulin sensitivity

Prevention and reversal of hepatic steatosis with a high-protein diet in mice

The hallmark of NAFLD is steatosis of unknown etiology. We tested the effect of a high-protein (HP)(2) diet on diet-induced steatosis in male C57BL/6 mice with and without pre-existing fatty liver. Mice were fed all combinations of semisynthetic low-fat (LF) or high-fat (HF) and low-protein (LP) or HP diets for 3weeks. To control for reduced energy intake by HF/HP-fed mice, a pair-fed HF/LP group was included. Reversibility of pre-existing steatosis was investigated by sequentially feeding HF/LP and HF/HP diets. HP-containing diets decreased hepatic lipids to ~40% of corresponding LP-containing diets, were more efficient in this respect than reducing energy intake to 80%, and reversed pre-existing diet-induced steatosis. Compared to LP-containing diets, mice fed HP-containing diets showed increased mitochondrial oxidative capacity (elevated Pgc1α, mAco, and Cpt1 mRNAs, complex-V protein, and decreased plasma free and short-chain acyl-carnitines, and [C0]/[C16+C18] carnitine ratio); increased gluconeogenesis and pyruvate cycling (increased PCK1 protein and fed plasma-glucose concentration without increased G6pase mRNA); reduced fatty-acid desaturation (decreased Scd1 expression and [C16:1n-7]/[C16:0] ratio) and increased long-chain PUFA elongation; a selective increase in plasma branched-chain amino acids; a decrease in cell stress (reduced phosphorylated eIF2α, and Fgf21 and Chop expression); and a trend toward less inflammation (lower Mcp1 and Cd11b expression and less phosphorylated NFκB).

CONCLUSION

HP diets prevent and reverse steatosis independently of fat and carbohydrate intake more efficiently than a 20% reduction in energy intake. The effect appears to result from fuel-generated, highly distributed small, synergistic increases in lipid and BCAA catabolism, and a decrease in cell stress.

Dissociating fatty liver and diabetes

Fatty liver disease is epidemiologically associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D), leading to a speculation of a reciprocal cause-effect relationship and a vicious cycle of pathology. Here, we summarize recent literature reporting dissociation of hepatosteatosis from insulin resistance in genetic mouse models and clinical studies. We highlight rhythmic flows of metabolic intermediates between hepatic lipid synthesis and glucose production in normal circadian physiology. Blocking triglyceride (TG) secretion, subcellular lipid sequestration, lipolysis deficiency, enhanced lipogenesis, gluconeogenesis defects, or inhibition of fatty acid oxidation all result in hepatosteatosis without causing hyperglycemia or insulin resistance, suggesting that the cause-effect relationship between hepatosteatosis and diabetes does not exist in all situations.

Probing the relationship between insulin sensitivity and longevity using genetically modified mice

Interference in insulin and/or insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signaling can extend invertebrate life span, and interference in IGF-1 signaling can extend murine life span. Whether interference with murine insulin signaling, which can be diabetogenic and pathological, is also life-extending is controversial. We therefore measured life span in 3 murine strains genetically modified to reduce or increase insulin sensitivity. Mice with reduced insulin sensitivity were hemizygous for a null mutation in the insulin receptor (insulin receptor knockout mice; IRKO(+/-)). Mice with increased insulin sensitivity either had a null mutation of protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP-1B(-/-)) or overexpressed Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α coactivator (PGC)-1α (PGC-1α(TG)). Life span of insulin insensitive IRKO(+/) mice was increased (males) or unaffected (females). Life spans of mice with increased insulin sensitivity were shortened overall (PTP-1B(-/-) mice) or partially (PGC-1α(TG): survival at the 25th percentile was reduced). These results show that insulin sensitivity in some murine genotypes is inversely related to longevity and provide further evidence for evolutionary conservation of this pathway as a modulator of longevity.

Mex3c mutation reduces adiposity and increases energy expenditure

The function of MEX3C, the mammalian homolog of Caenorhabditis elegans RNA-binding protein muscle excess 3 (MEX-3), was unknown until our recent report that MEX3C is necessary for normal postnatal growth and enhances the expression of local bone Igf1 expression. Here we report the pivotal role of Mex3c in energy balance regulation. Mex3c mutation caused leanness in both heterozygous and homozygous transgenic mice, as well as a more beneficial blood glucose and lipid profile in homozygous transgenic mice, in both sexes. Although transgenic mice showed normal food intake and fecal lipid excretion, they had increased energy expenditure independent of physical activity. Mutant mice had normal body temperature, Ucp1 expression in brown adipose tissue, and muscle and liver fatty acid oxidation. Mex3c is expressed in neurons and is detectable in the arcuate nucleus, the ventromedial nucleus, and the dorsomedial nucleus of the hypothalamus. Mex3c was not detected in NPY or POMC neurons but was detected in leptin-responsive neurons in the ventromedial nucleus. Mex3c and Leptin double mutant mice were growth retarded and obese and had blood profiles similar to those of ob/ob mice but showed none of the steatosis observed in ob/ob mice. Our data show that Mex3c is involved in energy balance regulation.

PGC-1α and exercise in the control of body weight

The increasing prevalence of obesity and its comorbidities represents a major threat to human health globally. Pharmacological treatments exist to achieve weight loss, but the subsequent weight maintenance is prone to fail in the long run. Accordingly, efficient new strategies to persistently control body weight need to be elaborated. Exercise and dietary interventions constitute classical approaches to reduce and maintain body weight, yet people suffering from metabolic diseases are often unwilling or unable to move adequately. The administration of drugs that partially mimic exercise adaptation might circumvent this problem by easing and supporting physical activity. The thermogenic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) largely mediates the adaptive response of skeletal muscle to endurance exercise and is a potential target for such interventions. Here, we review the role of PGC-1α in mediating exercise adaptation, coordinating metabolic circuits and enhancing thermogenic capacity in skeletal muscle. We suggest a combination of elevated muscle PGC-1α and exercise as a modified approach for the efficient long-term control of body weight and the treatment of the metabolic syndrome.

Overexpression of PGC-1α increases fatty acid oxidative capacity of human skeletal muscle cells

We investigated the effects of PGC-1α (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α) overexpression on the oxidative capacity of human skeletal muscle cells ex vivo. PGC-1α overexpression increased the oxidation rate of palmitic acid and mRNA expression of genes regulating lipid metabolism, mitochondrial biogenesis, and function in human myotubes. Basal and insulin-stimulated deoxyglucose uptake were decreased, possibly due to upregulation of PDK4 mRNA. Expression of fast fiber-type gene marker (MHCIIa) was decreased. Compared to skeletal muscle in vivo, PGC-1α overexpression increased expression of several genes, which were downregulated during the process of cell isolation and culturing. In conclusion, PGC-1α overexpression increased oxidative capacity of cultured myotubes by improving lipid metabolism, increasing expression of genes involved in regulation of mitochondrial function and biogenesis, and decreasing expression of MHCIIa. These results suggest that therapies aimed at increasing PGC-1α expression may have utility in treatment of obesity and obesity-related diseases.

Differential effects of krill oil and fish oil on the hepatic transcriptome in mice

Dietary supplementation with ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFAs), specifically the fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6 ω-3) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5 ω-3), is known to have beneficial health effects including improvements in glucose and lipid homeostasis and modulation of inflammation. To evaluate the efficacy of two different sources of ω-3 PUFAs, we performed gene expression profiling in the liver of mice fed diets supplemented with either fish oil (FO) or krill oil (KO). We found that ω-3 PUFA supplements derived from a phospholipid krill fraction (KO) downregulated the activity of pathways involved in hepatic glucose production as well as lipid and cholesterol synthesis. The data also suggested that KO-supplementation increases the activity of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Surprisingly, an equimolar dose of EPA and DHA derived from FO modulated fewer pathways than a KO-supplemented diet and did not modulate key metabolic pathways regulated by KO, including glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism and the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Moreover, FO upregulated the cholesterol synthesis pathway, which was the opposite effect of krill-supplementation. Neither diet elicited changes in plasma levels of lipids, glucose, or insulin, probably because the mice used in this study were young and were fed a low-fat diet. Further studies of KO-supplementation using animal models of metabolic disorders and/or diets with a higher level of fat may be required to observe these effects.

PGC-1 coactivators in cardiac development and disease

The beating heart requires a constant flux of ATP to maintain contractile function, and there is increasing evidence that energetic defects contribute to the development of heart failure. The last 10 years have seen a resurgent interest in cardiac intermediary metabolism and a dramatic increase in our understanding of transcriptional networks that regulate cardiac energetics. The PPAR-γ coactivator (PGC)-1 family of proteins plays a central role in these pathways. The mechanisms by which PGC-1 proteins regulate transcriptional networks and are regulated by physiological cues, as well as the roles they play in cardiac development and disease, are reviewed here.

Increased levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1alpha) improve lipid utilisation, insulin signalling and glucose transport in skeletal muscle of lean and insulin-resistant obese Zucker rats

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS

Reductions in peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1alpha) levels have been associated with the skeletal muscle insulin resistance. However, in vivo, the therapeutic potential of PGC-1alpha has met with failure, as supra-physiological overexpression of PGC-1alpha induced insulin resistance, due to fatty acid translocase (FAT)-mediated lipid accumulation. Based on physiological and metabolic considerations, we hypothesised that a modest increase in PGC-1alpha levels would limit FAT upregulation and improve lipid metabolism and insulin sensitivity, although these effects may differ in lean and insulin-resistant muscle.

METHODS

Pgc-1alpha was transfected into lean and obese Zucker rat muscles. Two weeks later we examined mitochondrial biogenesis, intramuscular lipids (triacylglycerol, diacylglycerol, ceramide), GLUT4 and FAT levels, insulin-stimulated glucose transport and signalling protein phosphorylation (thymoma viral proto-oncogene 2 [Akt2], Akt substrate of 160 kDa [AS160]), and fatty acid oxidation in subsarcolemmal and intermyofibrillar mitochondria.

RESULTS

Electrotransfection yielded physiologically relevant increases in Pgc-1alpha (also known as Ppargc1a) mRNA and protein ( approximately 25%) in lean and obese muscle. This induced mitochondrial biogenesis, and increased FAT and GLUT4 levels, insulin-stimulated glucose transport, and Akt2 and AS160 phosphorylation in lean and obese animals, while bioactive intramuscular lipids were only reduced in obese muscle. Concurrently, PGC-1alpha increased palmitate oxidation in subsarcolemmal, but not in intermyofibrillar mitochondria, in both groups. In obese compared with lean animals, the PGC-1alpha-induced improvement in insulin-stimulated glucose transport was smaller, but intramuscular lipid reduction was greater.

CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATIONS

Increases in PGC-1alpha levels, similar to those that can be induced by physiological stimuli, altered intramuscular lipids and improved fatty acid oxidation, insulin signalling and insulin-stimulated glucose transport, albeit to different extents in lean and insulin-resistant muscle. These positive effects are probably attributable to limiting the PGC-1alpha-induced increase in FAT, thereby preventing bioactive lipid accumulation as has occurred in transgenic PGC-1alpha animals.

PGC-1alpha regulation by exercise training and its influences on muscle function and insulin sensitivity

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPARgamma) coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha) is a major regulator of exercise-induced phenotypic adaptation and substrate utilization. We provide an overview of 1) the role of PGC-1alpha in exercise-mediated muscle adaptation and 2) the possible insulin-sensitizing role of PGC-1alpha. To these ends, the following questions are addressed. 1) How is PGC-1alpha regulated, 2) what adaptations are indeed dependent on PGC-1alpha action, 3) is PGC-1alpha altered in insulin resistance, and 4) are PGC-1alpha-knockout and -transgenic mice suitable models for examining therapeutic potential of this coactivator? In skeletal muscle, an orchestrated signaling network, including Ca(2+)-dependent pathways, reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitric oxide (NO), AMP-dependent protein kinase (AMPK), and p38 MAPK, is involved in the control of contractile protein expression, angiogenesis, mitochondrial biogenesis, and other adaptations. However, the p38gamma MAPK/PGC-1alpha regulatory axis has been confirmed to be required for exercise-induced angiogenesis and mitochondrial biogenesis but not for fiber type transformation. With respect to a potential insulin-sensitizing role of PGC-1alpha, human studies on type 2 diabetes suggest that PGC-1alpha and its target genes are only modestly downregulated (< or =34%). However, studies in PGC-1alpha-knockout or PGC-1alpha-transgenic mice have provided unexpected anomalies, which appear to suggest that PGC-1alpha does not have an insulin-sensitizing role. In contrast, a modest ( approximately 25%) upregulation of PGC-1alpha, within physiological limits, does improve mitochondrial biogenesis, fatty acid oxidation, and insulin sensitivity in healthy and insulin-resistant skeletal muscle. Taken altogether, there is substantial evidence that the p38gamma MAPK-PGC-1alpha regulatory axis is critical for exercise-induced metabolic adaptations in skeletal muscle, and strategies that upregulate PGC-1alpha, within physiological limits, have revealed its insulin-sensitizing effects.

The role of adipose tissue and lipotoxicity in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes

The widespread epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) suggest that both conditions are closely linked. An increasing body of evidence has shifted our view of adipose tissue from a passive energy depot to a dynamic "endocrine organ" that tightly regulates nutritional balance by means of a complex crosstalk of adipocytes with their microenvironment. Dysfunctional adipose tissue, particularly as observed in obesity, is characterized by adipocyte hypertrophy, macrophage infiltration, impaired insulin signaling, and insulin resistance. The result is the release of a host of inflammatory adipokines and excessive amounts of free fatty acids that promote ectopic fat deposition and lipotoxicity in muscle, liver, and pancreatic beta cells. This review focuses on recent work on how glucose homeostasis is profoundly altered by distressed adipose tissue. A better understanding of this relationship offers the best chance for early intervention strategies aimed at preventing the burden of T2DM.

Impairment of PGC-1alpha expression, neuropathology and hepatic steatosis in a transgenic mouse model of Huntington's disease following chronic energy deprivation

We investigated the ability of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) to activate PPARgamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha) in the brain, liver and brown adipose tissue (BAT) of the NLS-N171-82Q transgenic mouse model of Huntington's disease (HD). In the striatum of the HD mice, the baseline levels of PGC-1alpha, NRF1, NRF2, Tfam, COX-II, PPARdelta, CREB and ERRalpha mRNA and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), were significantly reduced. Administration of the creatine analog beta guanidinopropionic acid (GPA) reduced ATP and PCr levels and increased AMPK mRNA in both the cerebral cortex and striatum. Treatment with GPA significantly increased expression of PGC-1alpha, NRF1, Tfam and downstream genes in the striatum and cerebral cortex of wild-type (WT) mice, but there was no effect on these genes in the HD mice. The striatum of the untreated HD mice showed microvacuolation in the neuropil, as well as gliosis and huntingtin aggregates, which were exacerbated by treatment with GPA. GPA treatment produced a significant increase in mtDNA in the cerebral cortex and striatum of WT mice, but not in HD mice. The HD mice treated with GPA had impaired activation of liver PGC-1alpha and developed hepatic steatosis with accumulation of lipids, degeneration of hepatocytes and impaired activation of gluconeogenesis. The BAT in the HD mice showed vacuolation due to accumulation of neutral lipids, and age-dependent impairment of UCP-1 activation and temperature regulation. Impaired activation of PGC-1alpha, therefore, plays an important role in the behavioral phenotype, metabolic disturbances and pathology of HD, which suggests the possibility that agents that enhance PGC-1alpha function will exert therapeutic benefits in HD patients.

The role of mitochondria in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes

The pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is varied and complex. However, the association of DM with obesity and inactivity indicates an important, and potentially pathogenic, link between fuel and energy homeostasis and the emergence of metabolic disease. Given the central role for mitochondria in fuel utilization and energy production, disordered mitochondrial function at the cellular level can impact whole-body metabolic homeostasis. Thus, the hypothesis that defective or insufficient mitochondrial function might play a potentially pathogenic role in mediating risk of type 2 DM has emerged in recent years. Here, we summarize current literature on risk factors for diabetes pathogenesis, on the specific role(s) of mitochondria in tissues involved in its pathophysiology, and on evidence pointing to alterations in mitochondrial function in these tissues that could contribute to the development of DM. We also review literature on metabolic phenotypes of existing animal models of impaired mitochondrial function. We conclude that, whereas the association between impaired mitochondrial function and DM is strong, a causal pathogenic relationship remains uncertain. However, we hypothesize that genetically determined and/or inactivity-mediated alterations in mitochondrial oxidative activity may directly impact adaptive responses to overnutrition, causing an imbalance between oxidative activity and nutrient load. This imbalance may lead in turn to chronic accumulation of lipid oxidative metabolites that can mediate insulin resistance and secretory dysfunction. More refined experimental strategies that accurately mimic potential reductions in mitochondrial functional capacity in humans at risk for diabetes will be required to determine the potential pathogenic role in human insulin resistance and type 2 DM.

Differential regulation of PGC-1alpha expression in rat liver and skeletal muscle in response to voluntary running

BACKGROUND

The beneficial actions of exercise training on lipid, glucose and energy metabolism and insulin sensitivity appear to be in part mediated by PGC-1alpha. Previous studies have shown that spontaneously exercised rats show at rest enhanced responsiveness to exogenous insulin, lower plasma insulin levels and increased skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity. This study was initiated to examine the functional interaction between exercise-induced modulation of skeletal muscle and liver PGC-1alpha protein expression, whole body insulin sensitivity, and circulating FFA levels as a measure of whole body fatty acid (lipid) metabolism.

METHODS

Two groups of male Wistar rats (2 Mo of age, 188.82 +/- 2.77 g BW) were used in this study. One group consisted of control rats placed in standard laboratory cages. Exercising rats were housed individually in cages equipped with running wheels and allowed to run at their own pace for 5 weeks. At the end of exercise training, insulin sensitivity was evaluated by comparing steady-state plasma glucose (SSPG) concentrations at constant plasma insulin levels attained during the continuous infusion of glucose and insulin to each experimental group. Subsequently, soleus and plantaris muscle and liver samples were collected and quantified for PGC-1alpha protein expression by Western blotting. Collected blood samples were analyzed for glucose, insulin and FFA concentrations.

RESULTS

Rats housed in the exercise wheel cages demonstrated almost linear increases in running activity with advancing time reaching to maximum value around 4 weeks. On an average, the rats ran a mean (Mean +/- SE) of 4.102 +/- 0.747 km/day and consumed significantly more food as compared to sedentary controls (P < 0.001) in order to meet their increased caloric requirement. Mean plasma insulin (P < 0.001) and FFA (P < 0.006) concentrations were lower in the exercise-trained rats as compared to sedentary controls. Mean steady state plasma insulin (SSPI) and glucose (SSPG) concentrations were not significantly different in sedentary control rats as compared to exercise-trained animals. Plantaris PGC-1alpha protein expression increased significantly from a 1.11 +/- 0.12 in the sedentary rats to 1.74 +/- 0.09 in exercising rats (P < 0.001). However, exercise had no effect on PGC-1alpha protein content in either soleus muscle or liver tissue. These results indicate that exercise training selectively up regulates the PGC-1alpha protein expression in high-oxidative fast skeletal muscle type such as plantaris muscle.

CONCLUSION

These data suggest that PGC-1alpha most likely plays a restricted role in exercise-mediated improvements in insulin resistance (sensitivity) and lowering of circulating FFA levels.

Mitochondria mediated cell death in diabetes

Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a role in the pathogenesis of a wide range of diseases that involve disordered cellular fuel metabolism and survival/death pathways, including neurodegenerative diseases, cancer and diabetes. Cytokine, virus recognition and cellular stress pathways converging on mitochondria cause apoptotic and/or necrotic cell death of beta-cells in type-1 diabetes. Moreover, since mitochondria generate crucial metabolic signals for glucose stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS), mitochondrial dysfunction underlies both the functional derangement of GSIS and (over-nutrition) stress-induced apoptotic/necrotic beta-cell death, hallmarks of type-2 diabetes. The apparently distinct mechanisms governing beta-cell life/death decisions during the development of diabetes provide a remarkable example where remote metabolic, immune and stress signalling meet with mitochondria mediated apoptotic/necrotic death pathways to determine the fate of the beta-cell. We summarize the main findings supporting such a pivotal role of mitochondria in beta-cell death in the context of current trends in diabetes research.

Inactivation of GSK-3beta by metallothionein prevents diabetes-related changes in cardiac energy metabolism, inflammation, nitrosative damage, and remodeling

OBJECTIVE

Glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3beta plays an important role in cardiomyopathies. Cardiac-specific metallothionein-overexpressing transgenic (MT-TG) mice were highly resistant to diabetes-induced cardiomyopathy. Therefore, we investigated whether metallothionein cardiac protection against diabetes is mediated by inactivation of GSK-3beta.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Diabetes was induced with streptozotocin in both MT-TG and wild-type mice. Changes of energy metabolism-related molecules, lipid accumulation, inflammation, nitrosative damage, and fibrotic remodeling were examined in the hearts of diabetic mice 2 weeks, 2 months, and 5 months after the onset of diabetes with Western blotting, RT-PCR, and immunohistochemical assays.

RESULTS

Activation (dephosphorylation) of GSK-3beta was evidenced in the hearts of wild-type diabetic mice but not MT-TG diabetic mice. Correspondingly, cardiac glycogen synthase phosphorylation, hexokinase II, PPARalpha, and PGC-1alpha expression, which mediate glucose and lipid metabolisms, were significantly changed along with cardiac lipid accumulation, inflammation (TNF-alpha, plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 [PAI-1], and intracellular adhesion molecule 1 [ICAM-1]), nitrosative damage (3-nitrotyrosin accumulation), and fibrosis in the wild-type diabetic mice. The above pathological changes were completely prevented either by cardiac metallothionein in the MT-TG diabetic mice or by inhibition of GSK-3beta activity in the wild-type diabetic mice with a GSK-3beta-specific inhibitor.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that activation of GSK-3beta plays a critical role in diabetes-related changes in cardiac energy metabolism, inflammation, nitrosative damage, and remodeling. Metallothionein inactivation of GSK-3beta plays a critical role in preventing diabetic cardiomyopathy.