Effects of simulated hyperglycemia, insulin, and glucagon on endothelial nitric oxide synthase expression

Diabetes is associated with endothelial dysfunction and increased risk of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and renal complications. Earlier studies have revealed that hyperglycemia impairs nitric oxide (NO) production and diabetes causes endothelial dysfunction in humans and experimental animals. This study was designed to test the effects of altered concentrations of glucose, insulin, and glucagon, the principal variables in types I and II diabetes, on NO production and endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) expression in cultured human coronary endothelial cells. Cultured endothelial cells were incubated in the presence of glucose at either normal (5.6 mM) or high (25 mM) concentrations for 7 days. The rates of basal and bradykinin-stimulated NO production (nitrate + nitrite) and eNOS protein expression (Western blot) were then determined at the basal condition and in the presence of insulin (10(-8) and 10(-7) M), glucagon (10(-8) and 10(-7) M), or both. Incubation with a high-glucose concentration for 7 days significantly downregulated, whereas insulin significantly upregulated, basal and bradykinin-stimulated NO production and eNOS expression in cultured endothelial cells. The stimulatory action of insulin was mitigated by high-glucose concentration and abolished by cotreatment of cells with glucagon. Thus hyperglycemia, insulinopenia, and hyperglucagonemia, which frequently coexist in diabetes, can work in concert to suppress NO production by human coronary artery endothelial cells.     

Moderate dose insulin promotes function of endothelial progenitor cells

EPCs (endothelial progenitor cells) regenerate the vascular endothelial cells and keep the integrity of the vascular endothelium and thus may retard the onset of atherosclerosis. Steady state levels of EPCs in the circulation were found to be correlated with cardiovascular event risks. Given the close relationship between insulin and the cardiovascular system, we tested the long-term effects of moderate-dose insulin treatment on bone marrow-derived EPCs. Rat bone marrow EPCs were exposed to various levels of insulin under normal (5 mmol/l) or high (40 mmol/l) glucose conditions for 7 days. Insulin at levels near the physiological range (0.1, 1 nmol/l) up-regulated EPCs proliferation, stimulated NO (nitric oxide) production and reduced EPC senescence and ROS (reactive oxygen species) generation under both normal- and high-glucose conditions. Glucose exerted deleterious effects on EPCs contrary to insulin. Western blot analysis suggested concomitant decrease of Akt phosphorylation and eNOS (endothelial nitric oxide synthase) expression by high-glucose treatment and increase with insulin administration. Thus, insulin promoted several activities of EPCs, which suggested a potential endothelial protective role of insulin. Akt/eNOS pathway may be involved in the modulation of EPCs function by glucose and insulin.     

Treatment of lymphoblastoid cells with interferon decreases insulin binding

Lymphoblastoid Daudi cells, which are highly sensitive to growth inhibition by interferon (IFN), can be grown in a defined serum-free medium containing insulin, transferrin, and albumin as the only proteins. We examined whether the growth inhibition by IFN could be in part due to a change in receptors for insulin or transferrin. Cells treated for at least 2 days with 100 units/ml of IFN-alpha 2 bound less 125I-insulin and after 3 days of treatment this binding was reduced by more than 50%. No change in the binding of 125I-transferrin was observed. Treatment with IFN of Raji cells, which are resistant to growth inhibition by IFN, resulted in a similar decrease in 125I-insulin binding. Growth inhibition of Daudi cells by serum deprivation had no effect on 125I-insulin binding. Therefore, the IFN-induced loss of insulin binding sites is not a consequence of growth inhibition.     

Insulin down-regulates insulin receptor number and up-regulates insulin receptor affinity in cells expressing a tyrosine kinase-defective insulin receptor

We examined the effect of insulin treatment on HTC cells transfected with large numbers of either normal insulin receptors (HTC-IR) or insulin receptors defective in tyrosine kinase (HTC-IR/M-1030). In both HTC-IR and HTC-IR/M-1030 cells, 20 h of insulin treatment (1 microM) at 37 degrees C resulted in a 65% decrease in the number of binding sites with a reciprocal 6-fold increase in affinity. In contrast, treatment with 10 nM insulin (20 h, 37 degrees C) also increased receptor affinity but had a smaller effect on the number of binding sites. 125I-Insulin binding to soluble receptors from HTC-IR and HTC-IR/M-1030 cells pretreated with insulin showed results similar to those obtained in intact cells. In both HTC-IR and HTC-IR/M-1030 cells, insulin enhanced insulin receptor degradation. In HTC-IR/M-1030 cells a 1-h incubation with insulin did not change receptor number and had only a small effect on receptor affinity; also there was no effect of insulin after a 20-h incubation at 15 degrees C. Inhibiting protein synthesis by pretreatment with cycloheximide (100 microM) did not block either the decrease in receptor number or the increase in receptor affinity. Both HTC-IR and HTC-IR/M-1030 cells exhibited a very slow rate of insulin and insulin receptor internalization and no differences were seen in this parameter when HTC-IR cells were compared to HTC-IR/M-1030 cells. These studies indicate, therefore, that in cells expressing kinase-defective insulin receptors, insulin down-regulates insulin receptor number via enhanced receptor degradation, and up-regulates receptor affinity. These effects were time- and temperature-dependent, but not dependent on new protein synthesis, and suggest that activation of tyrosine kinase may not be a prerequisite for certain mechanisms whereby insulin regulates its receptor.     

Glucocorticoid-induced insulin resistance in vitro: inhibition of insulin-stimulated methylaminoisobutyric acid uptake

We have previously developed an in vitro model for the induction of insulin resistance by glucocorticoids using 3T3-L1 fat cells (Grunfeld, Baird, Van Obberghen and Kahn 1981). In this model, glucocorticoid treatment was shown to decrease insulin binding and inhibit the acute stimulation of deoxyglucose uptake by insulin. We now extend the findings in this model to examine insulin stimulated methylaminoisobutyric acid (MAIB) uptake, an event whose expression requires m-RNA and protein synthesis and takes many hours. As previously seen with insulin stimulation of deoxyglucose uptake, one day of exposure to dexamethasone had little effect on insulin stimulation of MAIB uptake. Significant inhibition of insulin-stimulated MAIB uptake was seen after 2 days of exposure, and 3 days were required for the maximum effect of the glucocorticoid. The half-maximal concentration of dexamethasone required for inhibition was 1.6 nM. Exposure to dexamethasone produced a 57% decrease in the maximal response to insulin and a small but consistant shift in the sensitivity to insulin. As seen with the acute effects of insulin, the major locus of glucocorticoid action in inhibiting insulin stimulated MAIB uptake is also after the binding of insulin to its receptor. These data indicate that the inhibitory effects of glucocorticoids on insulin action in fat cells extend to those effects of insulin which require gene expression and are not merely limited to short-term metabolic actions of insulin.     

Insulin binding to rat intestinal epithelial cells following partial small-bowel resection

Partial (60%) resection of rat small bowel was performed in order to obtain a model of intestinal mucosal hyperplasia for studying specific insulin binding. The affinity, but not the binding capacity, of insulin receptors in the adaptive mucosa decreased three and seven days following enterectomy. This modification took place only in crypt cells but not in mature villous cells. Since plasma insulin levels were not altered by the surgical manipulation, the observed decrease of insulin binding could not be related to regulation by insulin concentration. These results do not support a trophic role of insulin on intestinal mucosa and appear to be more a consequence of the hyperactive status of proliferation and differentiation at the mucosat level.     

Grape seed procyanidins improve β-cell functionality under lipotoxic conditions due to their lipid-lowering effect

Procyanidins have positive effects on glucose metabolism in conditions involving slightly disrupted glucose homeostasis, but it is not clear how procyanidins interact with β-cells. In this work, we evaluate the effects of procyanidins on β-cell functionality under an insulin-resistance condition. After 13 weeks of cafeteria diet, female Wistar rats were treated with 25 mg of grape seed procyanidin extract (GSPE)/kg of body weight (BW) for 30 days. To determine the possible mechanisms of action of procyanidins, INS-1E cells were separately incubated in high-glucose, high-insulin and high-oleate media to reproduce the conditions the β-cells were subjected to during the cafeteria diet feeding. In vivo experiments showed that chronic GSPE treatment decreased insulin production, since C-peptide levels and insulin protein levels in plasma were lower than those of cafeteria-fed rats, as were insulin and Pdx1 mRNA levels in the pancreas. GSPE effects observed in vivo were reproduced in INS-1E cells cultured with high oleate for 3 days. GSPE treatment significantly reduces triglyceride content in β-cells treated with high oleate and in the pancreas of cafeteria-fed rats. Moreover, gene expression analysis of the pancreas of cafeteria-fed rats revealed that procyanidins up-regulated the expression of Cpt1a and down-regulated the expression of lipid synthesis-related genes such as Fasn and Srebf1. Procyanidin treatment counteracted the decrease of AMPK protein levels after cafeteria treatment. Procyanidins cause a lack of triglyceride accumulation in β-cells. This counteracts its negative effects on insulin production, allowing for healthy levels of insulin production under hyperlipidemic conditions.     

Characteristics of insulin binding to H35 hepatoma cells

Well differentiated hepatoma cells in culture exhibit insulin binding and insulin effects. We have studied insulin binding in control and in H35 hepatoma cells down-regulated with insulin. H35 cells were grown in monolayers in alpha MEM. Insulin binding was measured with A14 mono 125I labelled insulin 72 h after seeding. Binding was time, temperature and pH-dependent. Receptor down-regulation was studied by exposing cells to increasing concentrations of unlabelled insulin. Monolayers preincubated with 10 micrograms/ml unlabelled insulin for 24 h showed a decrease of 65% in the number of insulin binding sites. There was no change in affinity.     

Insulin Receptor Sub-Types in a Human Lymphoid-Derived Cell Line (IM-9): Differential Regulation by Insulin,Dexamethasone and Monensin

Abstract

The cells of the human IM-9 lymphocyte-derived line contain a sub-population of insulin binding sites which differ from classical insulin binding sites in their higher binding affinity for insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). These atypical insulin binding sites are identified on IM-9 cells by [¹²⁵I]IGF-II binding.

To determine whether the atypical and classical insulin receptors of IM-9 cells were subject to different modes of in vivo regulation, we treated IM-9 cells with agents known to alter the surface expression of insulin receptors - insulin, dexamethasone and monensin. We then measured insulin and IGF-II binding to the surface of the washed cells.

Pretreatment of IM-9 cells with 1 μM insulin for 20 h at 37°C induced a 44–48% decrease in the number of high affinity insulin binding sites, but no change in the number of IGF-II binding sites. In contrast, the surface expression of both insulin and IGF-II binding sites (classical and atypical insulin receptors) increased 1.3 to 1.7-fold after treatment with dexamethasone (200 nM) and decreased 30 to 45% after monensin (1 μM). These results suggest that atypical and classical insulin receptors are differentially susceptible to down-regulation by insulin.     

Chronic exercise enhances insulin secretion ability of pancreatic islets without change in insulin content in non-diabetic rats

We evaluated the effect of chronic exercise on insulin secretion in response to high-glucose by using a perifusion method with isolated pancreatic islets from normal rats. Male Wistar rats were assigned to one of two groups: a sedentary group and a trained group. Running exercise was carried out on a treadmill for one hour per day, five days per week, for six, nine, or 12 weeks. The chronic exercise significantly enhanced the insulin secretion ability of pancreatic islets in response to the high-glucose stimulation upon nine and 12 weeks of exercise. The insulin content in the pancreas and the weight of the pancreas did not change upon nine weeks of exercise. Potassium-stimulated insulin secretion was also increased in the islets isolated from rats that trained for nine weeks compared with that in sedentary rats, suggesting that insulin secretion events downstream of membrane depolarization are involved in targets of the exercise effect. These findings suggest that chronic exercise could be a useful strategy not only for the maintenance of peripheral insulin sensitivity but also for the promotion of islet function to secrete insulin in non-diabetics.     

Effects of trypsin on binding of insulin and concanavalin A and on glucose and proline transport in the R3230AC mammary adenocarcinoma

Effects of trypsin treatment on insulin and concanavalin A binding to, and glucose and proline transport in, dissociated R3230AC mammary adenocarcinoma cells were examined. Reduction of binding of ¹²⁵I-labelled insulin was dependent on the amount of trypsin used, the temperature and the time of the incubation period. Under conditions that reduced insulin binding by greater than 75%, transport of glucose and proline was reduced by less than 15%. Scatchard analysis of insulin binding after trypsin treatment yielded slopes similar to those from cells not exposed to trypsin, assuming either two classes of receptors or an average affinity, $\text{K}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>e</mtext>}}$. Dissociation of bound insulin from untreated or trypsin-treated cells was enhanced by addition of excess unlabelled ligand. Insulin added in vitro, which decreased glucose transport in untreated cells, produced a decrease in glucose transport in cells treated with trypsin for 5 min (insulin binding was decreased 35%), but not in cells treated for 45 min (insulin binding was decreased 90%). Binding of the plant lectin concanavalin A was also reduced by trypsin treatment, but to a lesser extent and with a different time-course than for insulin. Scatchard analysis of the binding of concanavalin A in untreated and trypsin-treated cells yielded comparable values for K_d. The insulinomimetic actions of concanavalin A on glucose transport were abolished after brief exposure to trypsin. Pre-treatment of cells with concanavalin A reduced insulin binding and partially protected insulin receptors from trypsin digestion, but the inability to remove all of the concanavalin A precluded its use as a method to protect insulin receptors. Thus, in this rat mammary tumor, the number, but not the affinity or functional activity, of insulin receptors can be reduced by trypsin treatment without significant effects on glucose or A system amino acid transport.     

Acute effects of insulin on surface insulin receptors in isolated hepatocytes. Evidence for a recycling pathway

Isolated rat hepatocytes were incubated for 1 h at 37 degrees C with 10 nM insulin. Following washout of insulin, cells were incubated with [125I] monoiodoinsulin at 15 degrees C to assess surface insulin binding. Preincubation with 10 nM insulin did not cause a decrease in insulin binding. Scatchard analysis confirmed that insulin receptor number remained constant. In the presence of 200 microM chloroquine or 25 microM monensin, surface insulin binding after preincubation with 10 nM insulin fell to 81.1 +/- 1.2% or 39.0 +/- 2.7% of control, respectively. It is suggested that the maintenance of insulin receptor number following acute insulin treatment in vitro is due to an insulin receptor recycling pathway, possibly involving lysosomes and/or the Golgi apparatus.     

Whole body hyperthermia of rats decreases insulin binding to erythrocytes

125I-insulin binding to rat erythrocytes was studied to investigate the effect of whole body hyperthermia on the insulin receptor. Heat treatment of rats at 42 degrees C for 15 min caused a significant decrease (48.7% of control) in 125I-insulin binding to rat erythrocytes. Scatchard analysis showed that the decreased binding resulted from a decrease in the number of the insulin receptors rather than from a decrease in receptor affinity. The decreased receptor number for insulin showed no evidence of recovery, 2 h and 8 h after the hyperthermia. Plasma insulin levels remained lower than the control, up to 8 h after the hyperthermia, whereas plasma glucose, which decreased immediately after the hyperthermia, increased higher than the control, 8 h after the hyperthermia. The low plasma insulin level and decreased number of insulin receptor are believed to be possible factors for the elevation of plasma glucose.     

Time dependent effects of dexamethasone on serum insulin level and insulin receptors in rat liver and erythrocytes

The effects of glucocorticoid excess on regulation of insulin receptors were investigated in dexamethasone-treated rats. Glucocorticoid excess was produced by administration of dexamethasone (0.5 mg/100 g b.w.) 30 min, 4, 12, 18, 24, 42 or 70 h before experiments. This treatment caused time-dependent changes of glucose and insulin concentration in blood, as well as in amounts of specific insulin binding and insulin receptors of liver cells and erythrocytes. The time intervals in which dexamethasone produced the increase in insulin concentration were accompanied with decrease in insulin binding to receptors in membranes of liver cells, while significant changes in insulin binding to receptors of erythrocytes were not observed under the same experimental conditions. The effect is maximal 18 and 42 h after dexamethasone treatment that increase insulin blood level by about 85% and 60%, respectively. Receptor analysis revealed that changes in specific binding of insulin could be due to significant changes in amount of binding sites on cell surface rather than to mild alteration in receptor affinity. These findings suggest that besides the changes in insulin level, the alterations in insulin receptor number and affinity may play a major role in the states of altered insulin sensitivity which accompany glucocorticoid excess.     

Retinoic acid alters subcellular compartmentalization of ATP pools in 3T3 cells but not in HeLa cells

From the Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell, genetic variants (MonR-31 and MonR-32) relatively resistant to monensin, an ionophoric antibiotic, have been isolated. Growth of both MonR-31 and MonR-32 clones required higher doses of serum than CHO. Addition of insulin to media containing a low dose of serum restored full colony formation, but growth of MonR-31 or MonR-32 cells required more insulin than CHO cells. Specific binding of [125I]insulin was observed in these cell lines. The two MonR clones bound about one-half or less the [125I]insulin bound by CHO cells. Scatchard analysis for [125I]insulin binding at 4 degrees C and 37 degrees C showed altered number of binding sites, but not insulin affinity: The number of binding sites in the MonR cell was about a half or less that of the parental CHO cell. Down-regulation of insulin receptor was assayed when both CHO and MonR cells were incubated with 1 microgram/ml insulin. A 50-60% decrease in levels of insulin surface binding capacities was observed in CHO after exposure to insulin, whereas there was no decrease in MonR cell. The cellular uptake of 2-[3H]deoxyglucose into CHO cells was significantly enhanced in the presence of insulin, but only slight, if any, increase was observed in MonR cells.     

DOC2b is a SNARE regulator of glucose-stimulated delayed insulin secretion

Insulin secretion is precisely regulated by blood glucose with unique biphasic pattern. The regulatory mechanism of the second-phase insulin release is unclear. In this study, we report that DOC2b (double C2 domain protein isoform b), a SNARE related protein, was associated with insulin vesicles and translocated to plasma membrane within several minutes upon high-glucose stimulation followed by an interaction with syntaxin4, but not syntaxin1. This binding specificity and the time course of DOC2b translocation were suitable for the regulation of second-phase insulin release. Increased DOC2b expression enhanced glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. In contrast, silencing DOC2b inhibited delayed release of insulin, without affecting rapid (∼7 min) phase secretion. Interestingly, DOC2b had no effects on KCl-triggered insulin release. These data suggest that DOC2b may be a regulator for delayed (second-phase) insulin secretion in MIN6 cells.     

Linoleic acid increases monocyte chemotaxis and adhesion to human aortic endothelial cells through protein kinase C- and cyclooxygenase-2-dependent mechanisms

The effects of polyunsaturated n-6 linoleic acid on monocyte-endothelial interactions were investigated with particular emphasis on the expression of platelet/endothelial cell adhesion molecule (PECAM)-1 and the role of protein kinase C (PKC) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). As a diet rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids may favour atherosclerosis in hyperglycaemia, this study was performed in both normal and high-glucose media using human aortic endothelial cells (HAEC). The HAEC were preincubated with normal (5 mM) or high (25 mM) D-glucose for 3 days before addition of fatty acids (0.2 mM) for 3 days. Linoleic acid enhanced PECAM-1 expression independently of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and significantly increased TNF-α-induced monocyte adhesion to HAEC in comparison to the monounsaturated n-9 oleic acid. Chronic glucose treatment (25 mM, 6 days) did not modify the TNF-α-induced or fatty acid-induced changes in monocyte binding. The increase in monocyte binding was accompanied by a significant increase in E-selectin and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 expression and could be abrogated by an interleukin (IL)-8 neutralising antibody and by the PKC and COX inhibitors. Inhibition of PKC-δ reduced VCAM-1 expression regardless of experimental condition and was accompanied by a significant decrease in monocyte binding. Conditioned medium from linoleic acid-treated HAEC grown in normal glucose conditions significantly increased THP-1 chemotaxis. These results suggest that linoleic acid-induced changes in monocyte chemotaxis and subsequent binding are not solely mediated by changes in adhesion molecule expression but may be due to secreted factors such as IL-8, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 or prostaglandins (PGs) such as PGE(2), as IL-8 neutralisation and COX-2 inhibition reduced monocyte binding without changes in adhesion molecule expression.     

Impact of starvation on hormone binding and hormonal imprinting in Tetrahymena.

Tetrahymena cells maintained (starved) in a physiological salt solution showed a considerable decrease in insulin binding capacity. The cells previously imprinted with insulin showed a comparable relative binding decrease after a similar exposure. This change was reversible by prolonged maintenance in plain nutrient medium after which the binding capacity of the imprinted cells increased appreciably over the control. The cells maintained (starved) in salt solution for 2 h were no longer imprintable with insulin; it follows that prolonged starvation not only reduced the recognition potential, but also extinguished the imprintability of Tetrahymena cells.     

Differentiation of ob 17 preadipocytes to adipocytes. Effect of insulin on the levels of insulin receptors and on the transport of alpha-aminoisobutyrate.

Cells of a clonal cell line (ob 17) isolated from the epididymal fat pad of ob/ob mouse possess insulin receptors. Their number was increased 1.5-fold after growth arrest, with no significant change in the Kd values of the "high affinity" sites determined by extrapolation of the high affinity portion of the curvilinear Scatchard plots. With chronic insulin exposure for 3 to 11 days after confluence, ob 17 cells showed a decrease in insulin receptor concentrations from 8,000 to 1,600 high affinity sites/cell (Kd from 0.45 to 1.10(-9) M) while similar levels of "low affinity" sites were found (80,000 to 100,000 sites/cell; Kd from 10(-8) to 3 x 10(-8) M). The loss of the high affinity binding sites is accompanied by the disappearance of the stimulatory effect by insulin of alpha-aminoisobutyrate uptake. Therefore, in contrast to 3T3-L1 fibroblasts, the ob 17 cells present, in culture, a self-modulation of insulin receptors and a loss of insulin sensitivity after chronic exposure to insulin.