Persistence of disturbed adipocyte metabolism in streptozocin-induced diabetic rats despite near-euglycemia with phlorizin

Leptin does not affect adipocyte glucose metabolism: studies in fresh and cultured adipocytes

Leptin, the 16-kd hormone produced by white fat cells, regulates energy homeostasis, satiety, and multiple sites in the neuroendocrine system. Leptin receptors have been identified in the central nervous system (CNS) and are widespread in peripheral tissues, including fat. Given the association between insulin resistance and obesity, it is important to establish whether leptin has additional effects on peripheral insulin action and glucose metabolism. This study examined whether leptin has a direct autocrine/paracrine action on glucose metabolism in both freshly isolated and 24-hour cultured rat fat cells. Freshly isolated rat adipocytes were incubated for 30 minutes with 200 ng/mL recombinant murine leptin. Thereafter, basal and insulin-stimulated (10(-8) mol/L) glucose transport, glycolysis-Krebs oxidation and lipogenesis ([6-14C]glucose conversion to [14C]O2 and to [14C]triglyceride), and lipolysis were measured. Upon leptin exposure, no statistical differences were detected in glucose transport or metabolism. Increasing the leptin concentration to 1 to 2 microg/mL or prolonging the duration of preincubation with the fat cells to 60 minutes before the metabolic assays did not alter the results. Finally, using two disparate fat cell culture methods with differing substrate additions (pyruvate and high or low glucose concentrations), there was no effect of 24-hour exposure to leptin (200 ng/mL) on basal and insulin-stimulated glucose transport or lipogenesis. We conclude that leptin does not modulate basal or insulin-stimulated glucose metabolism in isolated and cultured fat cells in vitro. However, in vivo, higher pericellular leptin concentrations, as well as other cellular or soluble serum factors, may exist that might lead to a physiologically relevant autocrine action of leptin.

Inhibition of acetyl CoA carboxylase by GTP gamma S

The effect of nonhydrolyzable guanine nucleotides on mammalian acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC) activity was examined. Using porous rat adipocytes and crude fat cell homogenates to study metabolic pathway flux, GMPPNP and/or GTP gamma S inhibited [14C]fatty acid formation by up to 95% when either [6-14C]glucose-6-phosphate or [1-14C]acetyl CoA was used as substrate. If [2-14C]malonyl CoA initiated flux, however, no inhibition was apparent. These pathway flux studies suggested that ACC was the locus of inhibition, and that the mechanism might involve a disruption of guanine nucleotide hydrolysis by the nonhydrolyzable analogues. Using partially and avidin-sepharose-purified ACC preparations from rat fat, liver and mammary tissue, citrate-stimulated ACC activity was inhibited by 25-75% with 50 microM GTP gamma S. Related compounds and nucleotides had absent-to-minimal effects on ACC. ATP gamma S was inhibitory (10-30% at 5-15 microM), but always to a lesser degree than equimolar GTP gamma S. Filter binding assays with [alpha-32P]GTP or [35S]GTP gamma S were negative, but low-level GTPase activity was detected. Using photoaffinity labelling techniques, [alpha-32P]GTP was found to bind ACC and not pyruvate carboxylase. The hypothesis that citrate-responsive ACC activity may be modulated by an intrinsic or associated GTP binding site is explored. Since ACC forms polymers, as does the cytoskeletal protein beta-tubulin, amino acid sequence comparisons between ACC and atypical GTP binding domain of beta tubulin are presented.