Effects of insulin on total RNA, poly(A)+ RNA, and mRNA in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes

Differential regulation of protein synthesis by amino acids and insulin in peripheral and visceral tissues of neonatal pigs

The high efficiency of protein deposition during the neonatal period is driven by high rates of protein synthesis, which are maximally stimulated after feeding. In the current study, we examined the individual roles of amino acids and insulin in the regulation of protein synthesis in peripheral and visceral tissues of the neonate by performing pancreatic glucose-amino acid clamps in overnight-fasted 7-day-old pigs. We infused pigs (n = 8-12/group) with insulin at 0, 10, 22, and 110 ng kg(-0.66) min(-1) to achieve approximately 0, 2, 6 and 30 muU ml(-1) insulin so as to simulate below fasting, fasting, intermediate, and fed insulin levels, respectively. At each insulin dose, amino acids were maintained at the fasting or fed level. In conjunction with the highest insulin dose, amino acids were also allowed to fall below the fasting level. Tissue protein synthesis was measured using a flooding dose of L: -[4-(3)H] phenylalanine. Both insulin and amino acids increased fractional rates of protein synthesis in longissimus dorsi, gastrocnemius, masseter, and diaphragm muscles. Insulin, but not amino acids, increased protein synthesis in the skin. Amino acids, but not insulin, increased protein synthesis in the liver, pancreas, spleen, and lung and tended to increase protein synthesis in the jejunum and kidney. Neither insulin nor amino acids altered protein synthesis in the stomach. The results suggest that the stimulation of protein synthesis by feeding in most tissues of the neonate is regulated by the post-prandial rise in amino acids. However, the feeding-induced stimulation of protein synthesis in skeletal muscles is independently mediated by insulin as well as amino acids.

Hepatocyte polarity and the peroxisomal compartment: a comparative study

In search of factors that regulate the phenotype of the peroxisomal compartment in wild-type liver parenchymal cells, we compared hepatocyte polarity to peroxisome differentiation, using adult liver as the standard. Differentiation parameters were evaluated in a three-dimensional culture model (spheroid), in 'sandwich' and monolayer primary hepatocyte cultures, and in 15.5 and 18.5-day-old foetal rat liver. Peroxisomes, studied by immunohistochemistry, enzyme histochemistry, and catalase specific activity, were better differentiated depending on foetal age (day 18.5 > day 15.5) and culture type (spheroid > sandwich > monolayer). The hepatocyte polarity markers ATP-, ADP-, and AMP-hydrolysing activities were, in all models, mislocalized at the lateral plasma membrane, whereas in contrast the multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (mrp2) antigen was always correctly immunolocalized at the apical membrane domain. In cultures, the correct secretion of fluorescein (mrp2-mediated) into bile canaliculi was observed. Bile canaliculi (branching, ultrastructure and immunolocalization of the tight-junction associated protein ZO-1), were better differentiated in 18.5 than in 15.5-day-old foetal liver and in spheroid > sandwich > monolayer cultures. Our results show a parallelism between changes of the peroxisomal compartment and bile canalicular structure together with mrp2-mediated secretory function. Distinct polarization characteristics do not necessarily change simultaneously, suggesting different regulatory mechanisms.