Sestrin2 regulates monocyte activation through AMPK-mTOR nexus under high-glucose and dyslipidemic conditions

The vicious cycle between hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance results in the progression of atherosclerosis in the vessel wall. The complex interaction between hyperglycemia and lipoprotein abnormalities promotes the development of atherogenesis. In the early phase of atherosclerosis, macrophage-derived foam cells play an important role in vascular remodeling. Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway has been identified to play an essential role in the initiation, progression, and complication of atherosclerosis. Recently sestrin2, an antioxidant, was shown to modulate TOR activity and thereby regulating glucose and lipid metabolism. But the role of sestrin2 in monocyte activation is still not clearly understood. Hence, this study is focussed on investigating the role of sestrin2 in monocyte activation under hyperglycemic and dyslipidemic conditions. High-glucose and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) treatments mediated proinflammatory cytokine production (M1) with a concomitant decrease in the anti-inflammatory cytokine (M2) levels in human monocytic THP1 cells. Both glucose and oxidized LDL (OxLDL) in a dose and time-dependent manner increased the mTOR activation with a marked reduction in the levels of pAMPK and sestrin2 expression. Both high-glucose and OxLDL treatment increased foam cell formation and adhesion of THP1 cells to endothelial cells. Experiments employing activator or inhibitor of adenosine monophosphate kinase (AMPK) as well as overexpression or silencing of sestrin2 indicated that high-glucose mediated monocyte polarization and adhesion of monocytes to the endothelial cells were appeared to be programmed via sestrin2-AMPK-mTOR nexus. Our results evidently suggest that sestrin2 plays a major role in regulating monocyte activation via the AMPK–mTOR-pathway under diabetic and dyslipidemic conditions and also AMPK regulates sestrin2 in a feedback mechanism.