Ablation of 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1 (PDK1) in vascular endothelial cells enhances insulin sensitivity by reducing visceral fat and suppressing angiogenesis.

The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling pathway in vascular endothelial cells is important for systemic angiogenesis and glucose metabolism. In this study, we addressed the precise role of the 3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase 1 (PDK1)-regulated signaling network in endothelial cells in vivo, using vascular endothelial PDK1 knockout (VEPDK1KO) mice. Surprisingly, VEPDK1KO mice manifested enhanced glucose tolerance and whole-body insulin sensitivity due to suppression of their hepatic glucose production with no change in either peripheral glucose disposal or even impaired vascular endothelial function at 6 months of age.

Muscle-specific overexpression of heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor increases peripheral glucose disposal and insulin sensitivity.

Physical exercise ameliorates metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity, but the molecular basis of these effects remains elusive. In the present study, we found that exercise up-regulates heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) in skeletal muscle. To address the metabolic consequences of such gain of HB-EGF function, we generated mice that overexpress this protein specifically in muscle.

Deletion of cd39/entpd1 results in hepatic insulin resistance.

Objective: Extracellular nucleotides are important mediators of inflammatory responses and could also impact metabolic homeostasis. Type 2 purinergic (P2) receptors bind extracellular nucleotides and are expressed by major peripheral tissues responsible for glucose homeostasis. CD39/ENTPD1 is the dominant vascular and immune cell ectoenzyme that hydrolyzes extracellular nucleotides to regulate purinergic signaling.

Dok1 mediates high-fat diet-induced adipocyte hypertrophy and obesity through modulation of PPAR-gamma phosphorylation.

Insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 and IRS-2 have dominant roles in the action of insulin, but other substrates of the insulin receptor kinase, such as Gab1, c-Cbl, SH2-B and APS, are also of physiological relevance. Although the protein downstream of tyrosine kinases-1 (Dok1) is known to function as a multisite adapter molecule in insulin signaling, its role in energy homeostasis has remained unclear. Here we show that Dok1 regulates adiposity.

Analysis of waist circumference in Japanese subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus: lack of propriety to define the current criteria of metabolic syndrome.

A necessary condition of advocated criteria to determine the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Japan is waist circumference (WC), which varies among races. In this study, we measured WC and visceral fat area (VFA) in subjects with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and assessed the propriety of new criteria of MetS in Japan. Four hundred and nineteen patients (M/F: 258/161, age: 60.

MCP-1 contributes to macrophage infiltration into adipose tissue, insulin resistance, and hepatic steatosis in obesity.

Adipocytes secrete a variety of bioactive molecules that affect the insulin sensitivity of other tissues. We now show that the abundance of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) mRNA in adipose tissue and the plasma concentration of MCP-1 were increased both in genetically obese diabetic (db/db) mice and in WT mice with obesity induced by a high-fat diet. Mice engineered to express an MCP-1 transgene in adipose tissue under the control of the aP2 gene promoter exhibited insulin resistance, macrophage infiltration into adipose tissue, and increased hepatic triglyceride content.

Muscle-specific deletion of the Glut4 glucose transporter alters multiple regulatory steps in glycogen metabolism.

Mice with muscle-specific knockout of the Glut4 glucose transporter (muscle-G4KO) are insulin resistant and mildly diabetic. Here we show that despite markedly reduced glucose transport in muscle, muscle glycogen content in the fasted state is increased. We sought to determine the mechanism(s).

[The metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance].

The frequency of cardiovascular disease associated with metabolic disorder is increasing rapidly worldwide. The metabolic syndrome, a concurrence of glucose intolerance, obesity, dyslipidemia, and hypertension that are risk factors for atherosclerosis, accounts for a large proportion of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Exceeding energy intake coupled with high fat diet, sedentary lifestyle, and multiple genetic factors interact to produce the metabolic syndrome, and insulin resistance and visceral adiposity have been suggested to be the common pathophysiological basis of the metabolic syndrome.

Serum retinol binding protein 4 contributes to insulin resistance in obesity and type 2 diabetes.

In obesity and type 2 diabetes, expression of the GLUT4 glucose transporter is decreased selectively in adipocytes. Adipose-specific Glut4 (also known as Slc2a4) knockout (adipose-Glut4(-/-)) mice show insulin resistance secondarily in muscle and liver. Here we show, using DNA arrays, that expression of retinol binding protein-4 (RBP4) is elevated in adipose tissue of adipose-Glut4(-/-) mice.

Adipose-specific overexpression of GLUT4 reverses insulin resistance and diabetes in mice lacking GLUT4 selectively in muscle.

Adipose tissue plays an important role in glucose homeostasis and affects insulin sensitivity in other tissues. In obesity and type 2 diabetes, glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) is downregulated in adipose tissue, and glucose transport is also impaired in muscle. To determine whether overexpression of GLUT4 selectively in adipose tissue could prevent insulin resistance when glucose transport is impaired in muscle, we bred muscle GLUT4 knockout (MG4KO) mice to mice overexpressing GLUT4 in adipose tissue (AG4Tg).

Deletion of Cdkn1b ameliorates hyperglycemia by maintaining compensatory hyperinsulinemia in diabetic mice.

The protein p27(Kip1) regulates cell cycle progression in mammals by inhibiting the activity of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). Here we show that p27(Kip1) progressively accumulates in the nucleus of pancreatic beta cells in mice that lack either insulin receptor substrate 2 (Irs2(-/-)) or the long form of the leptin receptor (Lepr(-/-) or db/db). Deletion of the gene encoding p27(Kip1) (Cdkn1b) ameliorated hyperglycemia in these animal models of type 2 diabetes mellitus by increasing islet mass and maintaining compensatory hyperinsulinemia, effects that were attributable predominantly to stimulation of pancreatic beta-cell proliferation.

GLUT4 glucose transporter deficiency increases hepatic lipid production and peripheral lipid utilization.

A critical defect in type 2 diabetes is impaired insulin-stimulated glucose transport and metabolism in muscle and adipocytes. To understand the metabolic adaptations this elicits, we generated mice with targeted disruption of the GLUT4 glucose transporter in both adipocytes and muscle (AMG4KO). In contrast to total body GLUT4-null mice, AMG4KO mice exhibit normal growth, development, adipose mass, and longevity.

Insulin-stimulated protein kinase C lambda/zeta activity is reduced in skeletal muscle of humans with obesity and type 2 diabetes: reversal with weight reduction.

In humans with obesity or type 2 diabetes, insulin target tissues are resistant to many actions of insulin. The atypical protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms lambda and zeta are downstream of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3K) and are required for maximal insulin stimulation of glucose uptake. Phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1 (PDK-1), also downstream of PI3K, mediates activation of atypical PKC isoforms and Akt.