Glucose: a more powerful modulator of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate levels than insulin in human hepatocytes |
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Authors: | M P López M J Gómez-Lechón J V Castell |
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Institution: | Experimental Hepatology Unit, Hospital La Fe, Valencia, Spain. |
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Abstract: | This study provides the first experimental evidence of the short-term control of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate (Fru(2,6)P2) levels in adult human hepatocytes. (1) In hepatocytes whose metabolic status resembles the fed state (glycogen-rich), exposure to glucagon (10(-8) M) caused a drastic decrease in the levels of this effector and a significant fall in lactate production rate. Adrenaline, isoprenaline (a beta-adrenergic agonist) and lactate exerted a similar action decreasing Fru(2,6)P2 concentration. (2) In glucagon pre-treated, glycogen- and Fru(2,6)P2-depleted cells (a situation that mimics the fasted state), Fru(2,6)P2 re-synthesis was strictly dependent on glucose availability. (3) Insulin did not seem to exert a direct action on the control of Fru(2,6)P2 in human hepatocytes. The hormone--which failed to enhance Fru(2,6)P2 in glucose-starved cells--did not further increase Fru(2,6)P2 content nor its time-course evolution as compared to hepatocytes incubated with glucose alone. (4) Lactate caused a significant delay in the glucose-induced increase in Fru(2,6)P2 content that could not be prevented by insulin. (5) Data indicate that in human hepatocytes glucose is a more powerful modulator of Fru(2,6)P2 than insulin, and that variations in blood lactate concentration may also play a role in the control of hepatic Fru(2,6)P2 levels during the fasted-to-fed transition in humans. |
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