Regulation of very-low-density-lipoprotein lipid secretion in hepatocyte cultures derived from diabetic animals.

Hepatocytes were derived from 2-3-day streptozotocin-diabetic rats and maintained in culture for up to 3 days. Compared with similar cultures from normal animals, these hepatocytes secreted less very-low-density-lipoprotein (VLDL) triacylglycerol, but the decrease in the secretion of VLDL non-esterified and esterified cholesterol was not so pronounced. This resulted in the secretion of relatively cholesterol-rich VLDL particles by the diabetic hepatocytes. Addition of insulin for a relatively short period (24 h) further decreased the low rates of VLDL triacylglycerol secretion from the diabetic hepatocytes. The secretion of VLDL esterified and non-esterified cholesterol also declined. These changes occurred irrespective of whether or not exogenous fatty acids were present in the culture medium. Little or no inhibitory effect of insulin was observed after longer-term (24-48 h) exposure to the hormone. Both dexamethasone and a mixture of lipogenic precursors (lactate plus pyruvate) stimulated VLDL triacylglycerol and cholesterol secretion, but not to the levels observed in hepatocytes from normal animals. The low rate of hepatic VLDL secretion in diabetes contrasts with the increase in whole-body VLDL production rate. This suggests that the intestine is a major source of plasma VLDL in insulin-deficient diabetes.     

Effects of insulin on lipoprotein secretion in rat hepatocyte cultures. The role of the insulin receptor

Insulin inhibits the secretion of lipoprotein components such as triglyceride, phospholipid, and apolipoproteins B and E in primary rat hepatocyte cultures. The aim of this study was to determine whether these hormonal effects are related to the interaction of insulin with its receptor on the surface of cultured hepatocytes. Half-maximal inhibition of secretion of apolipoprotein E and triglyceride occurred at 6 ng/ml porcine insulin, equivalent to a 20% receptor occupancy. When compared to porcine insulin, both guinea pig insulin and desoctapeptide insulin were 60 times less inhibitory on triglyceride and apolipoprotein secretion. These analogs were also 60 times less effective in competing with porcine 125I-insulin for receptor binding. Anti-insulin receptor IgG inhibited binding of porcine insulin to cells in a dose-dependent fashion. However, similar to the hormone itself, it reduced the secretion of triglyceride and apolipoproteins E and B. Preincubation of cells with 200 ng/ml porcine insulin for 15 h caused a 2.5-fold reduction of surface receptor number. These cells were less sensitive to the inhibitory effect of porcine insulin on secretion of triglyceride and apolipoproteins B and E. We conclude that the effects of insulin on lipoprotein processing by hepatocytes in culture are receptor-mediated, can be imitated by antibodies, to the insulin receptor, and are subject to control by receptor down-regulation.     

Storage, mobilization and secretion of cytosolic triacylglycerol in hepatocyte cultures. The role of insulin.

Cytosolic triacylglycerol labelled from [3H]oleate accounted for almost 50% (57 +/- 22 nmol/mg of protein) of the total cellular triacylglycerol which was newly synthesized by cultured hepatocytes during a 24 h incubation. Insulin decreased the export of triacylglycerol as very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) during this period. This resulted in a sequestration of newly synthesized triacylglycerol in the cytosol, rather than in the particulate fraction of the cell. Longer periods of incubation with [3H]oleate resulted in increased concentrations of newly synthesized triacylglycerol within the cell, most of which (78 +/- 3% after 48 h; 80 +/- 3% after 72 h) was located within the cytosolic fraction. The quantity of newly synthesized triacylglycerol in the cell cytosol was further increased by insulin. During these periods there were decreases in the amounts of triacylglycerol associated with the particulate fraction of the cell, irrespective of the presence or absence of insulin. In no case was a decrease in VLDL triacylglycerol secretion in response to insulin accompanied by an increased triacylglycerol content in the particulate fraction of the cell. In some experiments, the fate of the cytosolic triacylglycerol was studied by pulse labelling with [3H]oleate. In these cases, when insulin was removed from the medium of cells to which they had previously been exposed, more newly synthesized triacylglycerol was secreted compared with cells which had not been exposed to insulin. This extra triacylglycerol was mobilized from the cytosolic rather than from the particulate fraction of the cell. Subsequent addition of insulin to the medium prevented the mobilization of cytosolic triacylglycerol. These results suggest that insulin enhances the storage of hepatocellular triacylglycerol in a cytosolic pool. Deficiency of insulin in the medium stimulates the mobilization of this pool which is channelled into the secretory pathway, entering the extracellular medium as VLDL.     

Riboflavin deficiency in cultured rat hepatoma cells: A model for studying the hepatic effects of riboflavin deficiency

Summary The acyl-CoA dehydrogenases are a family of mitochondrial flavoenzymes required for fatty acid beta-oxidation and branched-chain amino acid degradation. The hepatic activity of these enzymes, particularly the short-chain acyl-coenzyme A (CoA) dehydrogenase, is markedly decreased in riboflavin deficient rats. We now report that the in vivo effects of riboflavin deficiency on the beta-oxidation enzymes of this group are reproduced in FAO rat hepatoma cells cultured in riboflavin-deficient medium. Although it has been long known that hepatic short-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase activity is the most severely affected of the straight-chain specific enzymes in riboflavin deficiency, the mechanism by which its activity is decreased has not been reported. We have used this new cell culture system to characterize further this mechanism. Whole cell extracts from riboflavin-deficient and control cells were subjected to analysis by denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The contents of the gels were then electroblotted onto nitrocellulose filters and probed with short-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase-specific antiserum. The relative abundance of enzyme antigen was estimated autoradiographically. Our findings indicate that short-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase activity changes in parallel with its antigen, suggesting that riboflavin deprivation does not affect the activity of individual enzyme molecules. Further, no evidence of extramitochondrial enzyme precursor was found on the blots, making unlikely a significant block in the mitochondrial uptake process. These findings suggest that changes in short-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase activity in riboflavin deficiency result from either increased synthesis or decreased degradation of the enzyme. This work was supported by grants from the VA Medical Research Service, the Diabetes Association of Greater Cleveland, and the National Institutes of Health (HD25299), Bethesda, MD. Portions of the work presented here were presented at the 71st meeting of the Endocrine Society, Seattle, WA.     

Long-term effects of physiological oxygen concentrations on glycolysis and gluconeogenesis in hepatocyte cultures

Primary cultures of adult rat hepatocytes were kept for 46 h with either insulin ('insulin cells') or glucagon ('glucagon cells') as the dominant hormone under different oxygen concentrations with 13% (v/v) O2 mimicking arterial and 4% hepatovenous levels. Thereafter metabolic rates were measured for a 2 h period under the same ('overall long-term O2 effects') or a different ('short-term O2 effects') oxygen concentration. From the differences of the two effects the 'intrinsic long-term O2 effects' were derived. Glycolysis, as measured in 'insulin-cells', was stimulated by low O2 levels. It was about threefold faster in cells cultured and tested under 4% O2 as compared to cells cultured and tested under 13% O2, indicating the overall long-term effect. Glycolysis was about twofold faster in cells cultured and tested under 4% O2 as compared to cells cultured under 4% O2 but tested under 13% O2, demonstrating the short-term effect. Glycolysis was about 1.5-fold faster in cells cultured and tested under 4% O2 as compared to cells cultured under 13% O2 but tested under 4% O2, showing the intrinsic long-term effect. This difference was roughly parallel to the difference in levels of glucokinase and pyruvate kinase. Gluconeogenesis, as measured in 'glucagon cells', was stimulated by high O2 levels. Similar to glycolysis overall long-term, short-term and intrinsic long-term effects could be distinguished. The intrinsic long-term effects determined under 13% O2 corresponded to a 1.5-fold stimulation and paralleled the difference in phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase levels. The present results show that physiological oxygen concentrations also modulate hepatic carbohydrate metabolism by long-term effects and that the O2 gradient over the liver parenchyma thus contributes to the metabolic differences between periportal and perivenous hepatocytes in vivo.     

Protein deficiency attenuates the effects of alloxan on insulin secretion and glucose homeostasis in rats.

We have investigated the effect of alloxan on insulin secretion and glucose homeostasis in rats maintained on a 17% protein (normal protein, NP) or 6% protein (low protein, LP) diet from weaning (21 days old) to adulthood (90 days old). The incidence of alloxan diabetes was higher in the NP (3.5 times) than in the LP group. During an oral glucose tolerance test, the area under serum glucose curve was lower in LP (57%) than in NP rats while there were no differences between the two groups in the area under serum insulin curve. The serum glucose disappearance rate (Kitt) after exogenous insulin administration was higher in LP (50%) than in NP rats. In pancreatic islets isolated from rats not injected with alloxan, acute exposure to alloxan (0.05 mmol/L) reduced the glucose- or arginine-stimulated insulin secretion of NP islets by 78% and 56%, respectively, whereas for islets from LP rats, the reduction was 47% and 17% in the presence of glucose and arginine, respectively. Alloxan treatment reduced the glucose oxidation in islets from LP rats to a lesser extent than in NP islets (23% vs. 56%). In conclusion, alloxan was less effective in producing hyperglycemia in rats fed a low protein diet than in normal diet rats. This effect is attributable to an increased peripheral sensivity to insulin in addition to a better preservation of glucose oxidation and insulin secretion in islets from rats fed a low protein diet.     

A microperifusion system with environmental control for studying insulin secretion by pancreatic tissue.

A continuous flow reactor (perifusion system) was fabricated and tested for measuring the kinetics of insulin secretion from isolated pancreatic islets of Langerhans in response to step changes in the glucose concentration and oxygen partial pressure in the perfusate flowing around the islets. The system was capable of making rapid changes in perfusate glucose concentration and pO2, had rapid dynamic response for measuring the change in insulin secretion rate as a result of these changes in perfusate, and was suitable for studying very small volumes of tissue. Initial experiments with this system demonstrated that (1) the response of isolated rat islets to glucose stimulation was very fast, with the first phase peak occurring in as little as about 10 s, (2) bulk perfusate oxygen partial pressure levels of 30 mmHg or less reduced the second-phase insulin secretion rate in graded fashion, (3) the reduction in secretion rate began within 1 min following an oxygen partial pressure decrease, and (4) the reduction in secretion rate was reversible, with a burst of insulin secretion occurring during the first minute after partial pressure restoration.     

Estradiol increases the secretion of hepatic lipase by rat hepatocyte cultures.

Hepatic lipase (EC 3.1.1.3) is synthesized and secreted by parenchymal hepatocytes and binds to endothelial cells of liver sinusoids. The present study shows that the activity of hepatic lipase secreted by hepatocyte cultures from male rats in increased approx. 6-fold after 10 h culture with 10 microM 17 beta-estradiol. The stimulatory effect of 17 beta-estradiol is biphasic and declines at higher concentrations. In hepatocytes from male rats: progesterone, unlike 17 beta-estradiol, had only a small stimulatory effect when present as the sole hormone and a small inhibitory effect in the presence of 17 beta-estradiol, while testosterone and dexamethasone had no effect. Hepatocyte cultures from female rats had a higher basal rate of hepatic lipase secretion than cells from male rats and showed a smaller stimulation by 17 beta-estradiol. These results suggest that 17 beta-estradiol might regulate the secretion of hepatic lipase by hepatocytes, and presumably the activity of the enzyme at either the endothelial surface of the liver sinusoids or at extrahepatic sites.     

Synthesis and secretion of C-reactive protein by rabbit primary hepatocyte cultures.

The synthesis and secretion of the acute-phase protein C-reactive protein by rabbit primary hepatocyte cultures was investigated. Hepatocytes prepared from animals that had received inflammatory stimuli 18-24 h before cell isolation were found to incorporate radiolabelled amino acids into C-reactive protein throughout the 48 h culture period. Intracellular C-reactive protein was found to be in steady state and there was no significant degradation of extracellular C-reactive protein, permitting direct estimation of rate of synthesis from rate of extracellular accumulation. Both C-reactive protein and total secreted protein were synthesized at constant rates for at least 24 h in culture. Mean rate of accumulation of newly synthesized total proteins in medium of cultures from six stimulated animals was 40% greater than was found in cultures from nine control (unstimulated) animals; this difference did not achieve statistical significance (0.05 less than P less than 0.10). Mean rate of C-reactive-protein synthesis represented 3.9% of total secreted-protein synthesis in cultures prepared from stimulated animals compared with 0.3% in cultures from control animals (P less than 0.001). Further, there was a correlation between C-reactive-protein synthesis by cultured hepatocytes and serum C-reactive-protein concentration at time of hepatocyte isolation (P less than 0.001). Rates of C-reactive-protein synthesis by hepatocyte cultures from stimulated animals were in good agreement with those previously measured in isolated perfused livers and those calculated from results of studies in vivo.     

Epidermal growth factor counteracts the glycogenic effect of insulin in parenchymal hepatocyte cultures.

Rat parenchymal hepatocytes in monolayer culture were used to study the metabolic effects of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and insulin on ketogenesis, gluconeogenesis and glycogen metabolism. EGF, unlike insulin, did not inhibit ketogenesis from palmitate or gluconeogenesis from pyruvate in hepatocyte cultures. It also had no effect on these pathways in the presence of insulin. In contrast, EGF potently counteracted the stimulation of [14C]pyruvate incorporation into glycogen by insulin, and also glycogen deposition from both gluconeogenic precursors and glucose. The EGF concentration causing half-maximal effect was about 0.1 nM. The anti-glycogenic effect of EGF was observed after both long-term (24 h) and short-term (1 h) exposure to EGF, and was more marked in the presence of insulin than in its absence. EGF did not displace bound insulin, suggesting that it neither competes for the insulin receptor nor affects the affinity of the receptor for insulin. EGF did not alter cellular cyclic AMP; and inhibition of cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase activity did not prevent the anti-glycogenic effect of EGF. In liver-derived dividing epithelial cells, Hep-G2 cells and fibroblasts, which have no capacity for gluconeogenesis, EGF did not counteract the stimulatory effect of insulin on [14C]glucose incorporation into glycogen, and in the epithelial cells EGF increased [14C]glucose incorporation into glycogen. The counter-effect of EGF on the glycogenic action of insulin in parenchymal hepatocytes may be due to a direct effect on glycogen metabolism or to an interaction with the post-receptor events in insulin action.     

Formation and secretion of glycolithocholate-3-sulfate in primary hepatocyte cultures

Bile acid sulfation was studied in primary hepatocyte cultures. The primary hepatocyte cultures formed glycolithocholate-3-sulfate (GLC-S) when glycolithocholate (GLC) was added to the medium. The relative percentage of GLC-S formation increased when the GLC concentration was increased from 10 microM to 100 microM. GLC-S formation was linear to 60 min. GLC-S secretion into the medium was detectable at 75 min and linear to 8 hr. In contrast to the effect of GLC concentration, there was no difference in GLC-S formation or secretion when inorganic sulfate in the medium was increased 16-fold (100 microM-1600 microM). We conclude that the rate of bile acid sulfate formation in cultured primary hepatocytes is primarily controlled by bile acid, but not inorganic sulfate, concentration.     

A model two-component system for studying the architecture of elastin assembly in vitro

Tropoelastin is encoded by a single human gene that spans 36 exons and is oxidized in vivo by mammalian lysyl oxidase at the epsilon amino group of available lysines to give the adipic semialdehyde, which then facilitates covalent cross-link formation in an enzyme-free process involving tropoelastin association. We demonstrate here that this process is effectively modeled by a two protein component system using purified lysyl oxidase from the yeast Pichia pastoris to facilitate the oxidation and subsequent cross-linking of recombinant human tropoelastin. The oxidized human tropoelastin forms an elastin-like polymer (EL) that is elastic, shows hydrogel behavior and contains typical elastin cross-links including lysinonorleucine, allysine aldol, and desmosine. Protease digestion and subsequent mass-spectrometry analysis of multiple ELs allowed for the identification of specific intra- and inter-molecular cross-links, leading to a model of the molecular architecture of elastin assembly in vitro. Specific intra-molecular cross-links were confined to the region of tropoelastin encoded by exons 6-15. Inter-molecular cross-links were prevalent between the regions encoded by exons 19-25. We find that assembly of tropoelastin molecules in ELs are highly enriched for a defined subset of cross-links.     

Choice of osteoblast model critical for studying the effects of electromagnetic stimulation on osteogenesis in vitro

ABSTRACT

The clinical benefits of electromagnetic field (EMF) therapy in enhancing osteogenesis have been acknowledged for decades, but agreement regarding the underlying mechanisms continues to be sought. Studies have shown EMFs to promote osteoblast-like cell proliferation, or contrarily, to induce differentiation and enhance mineralization. Typically these disparities have been attributed to methodological differences. The present paper argues the possibility that the chosen osteoblast model impacts stimulation outcome. Phenotypically immature cells, particularly at low seeding densities, appear to be prone to EMF-amplified proliferation. Conversely, mature cells at higher densities seem to be predisposed to earlier onset differentiation and mineralization. This suggests that EMFs augment ongoing processes in cell populations. To test this hypothesis, mature SaOS-2 cells and immature MC3T3-E1 cells at various densities, with or without osteo-induction, were exposed to sinusoidal 50 Hz EMF. The exposure stimulated the proliferation of MC3T3-E1 and inhibited the proliferation of SaOS-2 cells. Baseline alkaline phosphatase (ALP) expression of SaOS-2 cells was high and rapidly further increased with EMF exposure, whereas ALP effects in MC3T3-E1 cells were not seen until the second week. Thus both cell types responded differently to EMF stimulation, corroborating the hypothesis that the phenotypic maturity and culture stage of cells influence stimulation outcome.     

Acute orexin effects on insulin secretion in the rat: in vivo and in vitro studies

Orexin-A and orexin-B are members of a family of newly described orexigenic hypothalamic neuropeptides. Scanty data are available suggesting the involvement of orexins in regulation of the secretion of pituitary hormones and in control of energy homeostasis. Present studies aimed to explain whether orexins affect blood insulin concentration and insulin secretion in the rat. To check this possibility, adult female rats were subcutaneously injected with different doses (1 or 2 nmol) of orexin-A or orexin-B. A bolus administration of orexin-A resulted in an increase in blood insulin (up to min 120) and glucose (60 min after injection) concentration. The higher dose of orexin-B, on the other hand, exerted effect on insulin secretion only at min 60 of experiment and neither doses changed blood glucose level. Only orexin-A stimulated insulin secretion in an in vitro perfusion system of the rat pancreas preparation, while orexin-B was less effective. The results demonstrate that orexins belong to a group of neuropeptides influencing insulin secretion and acting directly on the pancreas. Direct, at least partial, effect of orexin on insulin secretion may be connected with the regulation of metabolism by this peptide.     

Induction of glucokinase by insulin under the permissive action of dexamethasone in primary rat hepatocyte cultures.

Glucokinase, the organ specific key enzyme of glucose metabolism in liver, was studied in primary cultures of adult rat hepatocytes during the first two days after cell preparation. In the presence of dexamethasone low concentrations of insulin (10^?9 mol/l) prevented the observed time dependent decrease of glucokinase activity while higher insulin concentrations (10^?8 and 10^?7 mol/l) led to a twofold increase of enzyme activity. The enhancement of glucokinase activity was completely blocked by either actinomycin D or cycloheximide. The degree of this insulin dependent induction was correlated with the concentration of added dexamethasone, which seemed to perform a permissive function. The induction of glucokinase activity could be prevented by addition of glucagon (2 × 10^?7 mol/l).