Urotensin II-induced insulin resistance is mediated by NADPH oxidase-derived reactive oxygen species in HepG2 cells

AIM:

To investigated the effects of urotensin II (UII) on hepatic insulin resistance in HepG2 cells and the potential mechanisms involved.

METHODS:

Human hepatoma HepG2 cells were cultured with or without exogenous UII for 24 h, in the presence or absence of 100 nmol/L insulin for the last 30 min. Glucose levels were detected by the glucose-oxidase method and glycogen synthesis was analyzed by glycogen colorimetric/fluorometric assay. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were detected with a multimode reader using a 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate probe. The protein expression and phosphorylation levels of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), insulin signal essential molecules such as insulin receptor substrate -1 (IRS-1), protein kinase B (Akt), glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), and glucose transporter-2 (Glut 2), and NADPH oxidase subunits such as gp91(phox), p67(phox), p47(phox), p40(phox), and p22(phox) were evaluated by Western blot.

RESULTS:

Exposure to 100 nmol/L UII reduced the insulin-induced glucose consumption (P < 0.05) and glycogen content (P < 0.01) in HepG2 cells compared with cells without UII. UII also abolished insulin-stimulated protein expression (P < 0.01) and phosphorylation of IRS-1 (P < 0.05), associated with down-regulation of Akt (P < 0.05) and GSK-3β (P < 0.05) phosphorylation levels, and the expression of Glut 2 (P < 0.001), indicating an insulin-resistance state in HepG2 cells. Furthermore, UII enhanced the phosphorylation of JNK (P < 0.05), while the activity of JNK, insulin signaling, such as total protein of IRS-1 (P < 0.001), phosphorylation of IRS-1 (P < 0.001) and GSK-3β (P < 0.05), and glycogen synthesis (P < 0.001) could be reversed by pretreatment with the JNK inhibitor SP600125. Besides, UII markedly improved ROS generation (P < 0.05) and NADPH oxidase subunit expression (P < 0.05). However, the antioxidant/NADPH oxidase inhibitor apocynin could decrease UII-induced ROS production (P < 0.05), JNK phosphorylation (P < 0.05), and insulin resistance (P < 0.05) in HepG2 cells.

CONCLUSION:

UII induces insulin resistance, and this can be reversed by JNK inhibitor SP600125 and antioxidant/NADPH oxidase inhibitor apocynin targeting the insulin signaling pathway in HepG2 cells.

Related Products

Cat.No.	Product Name	Information
S1460	SP600125	SP600125 (Nsc75890) is a broad-spectrum JNK inhibitor for JNK1, JNK2 and JNK3 with IC50 of 40 nM, 40 nM and 90 nM in cell-free assays, respectively; 10-fold greater selectivity against MKK4, 25-fold greater selectivity against MKK3, MKK6, PKB, and PKCα, and 100-fold selectivity against ERK2, p38, Chk1, EGFR etc. SP600125 is also a broad‐spectrum inhibitor of serine/threonine kinases including Aurora kinase A，FLT3 and TRKA with of IC50 of 60 nM, 90 nM and 70 nM. SP600125 inhibits autophagy and activates apoptosis.

Related Targets

JNK