Physiological role of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK): insights from knockout mouse models

2003 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 216-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Viollet ◽  
F. Andreelli ◽  
S.B. Jørgensen ◽  
C. Perrin ◽  
D. Flamez ◽  
...  

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is viewed as a fuel sensor for glucose and lipid metabolism. To understand better the physiological role of the catalytic AMPK subunit isoforms, we generated two knockout mouse models with the α1 (AMPKα1−/−) and α2 (AMPKα2−/−) catalytic subunit genes deleted. No defect in glucose homoeostasis was observed in AMPKα1−/− mice. On the other hand, AMPKα2−/− mice presented high plasma glucose levels and low plasma insulin concentrations in the fed period and during the glucose tolerance test. Nevertheless, in isolated AMPKα2−/− pancreatic islets, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion was not affected. Surprisingly, AMPKα2−/− mice were insulin-resistant and had reduced muscle glycogen synthesis as assessed in vivo by the hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic clamp procedure. Reduction of insulin sensitivity and glycogen synthesis were not dependent on the lack of AMPK in skeletal muscle, since mice expressing a dominant inhibitory mutant of AMPK in skeletal muscle were not affected and since insulin-stimulated glucose transport in incubated muscles in vitro was normal in AMPKα2−/− muscles. Furthermore, AMPKα2−/− mice have a higher sympathetic tone, as shown by increased catecholamine urinary excretion. Increased adrenergic tone could explain both decreased insulin secretion and insulin resistance observed in vivo in AMPKα2−/− mice. We suggest that the α2 catalytic subunit of AMPK plays a major role as a fuel sensor by modulating the activity of the autonomous nervous system in vivo.

2003 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1290-1294 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.F.P. Wojtaszewski ◽  
J.N. Nielsen ◽  
S.B. Jørgensen ◽  
C. Frøsig ◽  
J.B. Birk ◽  
...  

The AMPK (5´AMP-activated protein kinase) is becoming recognized as a critical regulator of energy metabolism. However, many of these effects in muscle metabolism have been ascribed to AMPK based on the use of the unspecific activator AICAR (5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-d-ribofuranoside). Using mouse models in which AMPK activity has been specifically blocked (kinase dead) or knocked out we and others have been able to conduct studies gaining more conclusive data on the role of AMPK in muscle metabolism. In this mini-review focus is on AMPK and its regulatory role for glucose transport and GS (glycogen synthase) activity in skeletal muscle, indicating that AMPK is a GS kinase in vivo which might influence GS activity during exercise and that AMPK is involved in AICAR/hypoxia-induced glucose transport but not or only partially in contraction-stimulated glucose transport.


2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory R. Steinberg

During moderate-intensity exercise, fatty acids are the predominant substrate for working skeletal muscle. The release of fatty acids from adipose tissue stores, combined with the ability of skeletal muscle to actively fine tune the gradient between fatty acid and carbohydrate metabolism, depending on substrate availability and energetic demands, requires a coordinated system of metabolic control. Over the past decade, since the discovery that AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) was increased in accordance with exercise intensity, there has been significant interest in the proposed role of this ancient stress-sensing kinase as a critical integrative switch controlling metabolic responses during exercise. In this review, studies examining the role of AMPK as a regulator of fatty acid metabolism in both adipose tissue and skeletal muscle during exercise will be discussed. Exercise induces activation of AMPK in adipocytes and regulates triglyceride hydrolysis and esterfication through phosphorylation of hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) and glycerol-3-phosphate acyl-transferase, respectively. In skeletal muscle, exercise-induced activation of AMPK is associated with increases in fatty acid uptake, phosphorylation of HSL, and increased fatty acid oxidation, which is thought to occur via the acetyl-CoA carboxylase-malony-CoA-CPT-1 signalling axis. Despite the importance of AMPK in regulating fatty acid metabolism under resting conditions, recent evidence from transgenic models of AMPK deficiency suggest that alternative signalling pathways may also be important for the control of fatty acid metabolism during exercise.


2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (18) ◽  
pp. 6704-6711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Woods ◽  
Dalila Azzout-Marniche ◽  
Marc Foretz ◽  
Silvie C. Stein ◽  
Patricia Lemarchand ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT In the liver, glucose induces the expression of a number of genes involved in glucose and lipid metabolism, e.g., those encoding L-type pyruvate kinase and fatty acid synthase. Recent evidence has indicated a role for the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in the inhibition of glucose-activated gene expression in hepatocytes. It remains unclear, however, whether AMPK is involved in the glucose induction of these genes. In order to study further the role of AMPK in regulating gene expression, we have generated two mutant forms of AMPK. One of these (α1312) acts as a constitutively active kinase, while the other (α1DN) acts as a dominant negative inhibitor of endogenous AMPK. We have used adenovirus-mediated gene transfer to express these mutants in primary rat hepatocytes in culture in order to determine their effect on AMPK activity and the transcription of glucose-activated genes. Expression of α1312 increased AMPK activity in hepatocytes and blocked completely the induction of a number of glucose-activated genes in response to 25 mM glucose. This effect is similar to that observed following activation of AMPK by 5-amino-imidazolecarboxamide riboside. Expression of α1DN markedly inhibited both basal and stimulated activity of endogenous AMPK but had no effect on the transcription of glucose-activated genes. Our results suggest that AMPK is involved in the inhibition of glucose-activated gene expression but not in the induction pathway. This study demonstrates that the two mutants we have described will provide valuable tools for studying the wider physiological role of AMPK.


2012 ◽  
Vol 302 (4) ◽  
pp. E403-E408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mika Bando ◽  
Hiroshi Iwakura ◽  
Hiroyuki Ariyasu ◽  
Hiroshi Hosoda ◽  
Go Yamada ◽  
...  

Whereas ghrelin is produced primarily in the stomach, a small amount of it is produced in pancreatic islets. Although exogenous administration of ghrelin suppresses insulin secretion in vitro or in vivo, the role of intraislet ghrelin in the regulation of insulin secretion in vivo remains unclear. To understand the physiological role of intraislet ghrelin in insulin secretion and glucose metabolism, we developed a transgenic (Tg) mouse model, rat insulin II promoter ghrelin-internal ribosomal entry site-ghrelin O-acyl transferase (RIP-GG) Tg mice, in which mouse ghrelin cDNA and ghrelin O-acyltransferase are overexpressed under the control of the rat insulin II promoter. Although pancreatic desacyl ghrelin levels were elevated in RIP-GG Tg mice, pancreatic ghrelin levels were not altered in animals on a standard diet. However, when Tg mice were fed a medium-chain triglyceride-rich diet (MCTD), pancreatic ghrelin levels were elevated to ∼16 times that seen in control animals. It seems likely that the gastric ghrelin cells possess specific machinery to provide the octanoyl acid necessary for ghrelin acylation but that this machinery is absent from pancreatic β-cells. Despite the overexpression of ghrelin, plasma ghrelin levels in the portal veins of RIP-GG Tg mice were unchanged from control levels. Glucose tolerance, insulin secretion, and islet architecture in RIP-GG Tg mice were not significantly different even when the mice were fed a MCTD. These results indicate that intraislet ghrelin does not play a major role in the regulation of insulin secretion in vivo.


2019 ◽  
Vol 294 (36) ◽  
pp. 13525-13525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming-Hui Zou ◽  
Stacy S. Kirkpatrick ◽  
Bradley J. Davis ◽  
John S. Nelson ◽  
Walger G. Wiles ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. 1007-1013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Licht Miyamoto ◽  
Taro Toyoda ◽  
Tatsuya Hayashi ◽  
Shin Yonemitsu ◽  
Masako Nakano ◽  
...  

5′-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) has been implicated in glycogen metabolism in skeletal muscle. However, the physiological relevance of increased AMPK activity during exercise has not been fully clarified. This study was performed to determine the direct effects of acute AMPK activation on muscle glycogen regulation. For this purpose, we used an isolated rat muscle preparation and pharmacologically activated AMPK with 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-d-ribonucleoside (AICAR). Tetanic contraction in vitro markedly activated the α1- and α2-isoforms of AMPK, with a corresponding increase in the rate of 3- O-methylglucose uptake. Incubation with AICAR elicited similar enhancement of AMPK activity and 3- O-methylglucose uptake in rat epitrochlearis muscle. In contrast, whereas contraction stimulated glycogen synthase (GS), AICAR treatment decreased GS activity. Insulin-stimulated GS activity also decreased after AICAR treatment. Whereas contraction activated glycogen phosphorylase (GP), AICAR did not alter GP activity. The muscle glycogen content decreased in response to contraction but was unchanged by AICAR. Lactate release was markedly increased when muscles were stimulated with AICAR in buffer containing glucose, indicating that the glucose taken up into the muscle was catabolized via glycolysis. Our results suggest that AMPK does not mediate contraction-stimulated glycogen synthesis or glycogenolysis in skeletal muscle and also that acute AMPK activation leads to an increased glycolytic flux by antagonizing contraction-stimulated glycogen synthesis.


2012 ◽  
Vol 303 (5) ◽  
pp. C475-C485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony M. J. Sanchez ◽  
Robin B. Candau ◽  
Alfredo Csibi ◽  
Allan F. Pagano ◽  
Audrey Raibon ◽  
...  

The AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a serine/threonine protein kinase that acts as a sensor of cellular energy status switch regulating several systems including glucose and lipid metabolism. Recently, AMPK has been implicated in the control of skeletal muscle mass by decreasing mTORC1 activity and increasing protein degradation through regulation of ubiquitin-proteasome and autophagy pathways. In this review, we give an overview of the central role of AMPK in the control of skeletal muscle plasticity. We detail particularly its implication in the control of the hypertrophic and atrophic signaling pathways. In the light of these cumulative and attractive results, AMPK appears as a key player in regulating muscle homeostasis and the modulation of its activity may constitute a therapeutic potential in treating muscle wasting syndromes in humans.


2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 773-793 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence S Kirschner ◽  
Zhirong Yin ◽  
Georgette N Jones ◽  
Emilia Mahoney

Protein kinase A (PKA) is an evolutionarily conserved protein which has been studied in model organisms from yeast to man. Although the cAMP–PKA signaling system was the first mammalian second messenger system to be characterized, many aspects of this pathway are still not well understood. Owing to findings over the past decade implicating PKA signaling in endocrine (and other) tumorigenesis, there has been renewed interest in understanding the role of this pathway in physiology, particularly as it pertains to the endocrine system. Because of the availability of genetic tools, mouse modeling has become the pre-eminent system for studying the physiological role of specific genes and gene families as a means to understanding their relationship to human diseases. In this review, we will summarize the current data regarding mouse models that have targeted the PKA signaling system. These data have led to a better understanding of both the complexity and the subtlety of PKA signaling, and point the way for future studies, which may help to modulate this pathway for therapeutic effect.


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