The SHP-1 protein tyrosine phosphatase negatively modulates glucose homeostasis.

The protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP-1 is a well-known inhibitor of activation-promoting signaling cascades in hematopoietic cells but its potential role in insulin target tissues is unknown. Here we show that Ptpn6(me-v/me-v) (also known as viable motheaten) mice bearing a functionally deficient SHP-1 protein are markedly glucose tolerant and insulin sensitive as compared to wild-type littermates, as a result of enhanced insulin receptor signaling to IRS-PI3K-Akt in liver and muscle. Downregulation of SHP-1 activity in liver of normal mice by adenoviral expression of a catalytically inert mutant of SHP-1, or after small hairpin RNA-mediated SHP-1 silencing, further confirmed this phenotype. Tyrosine phosphorylation of CEACAM1, a modulator of hepatic insulin clearance, and clearance of serum [125I]-insulin were markedly increased in SHP-1-deficient mice or SHP-1-deficient hepatic cells in vitro. These findings show a novel role for SHP-1 in the regulation of glucose homeostasis through modulation of insulin signaling in liver and muscle as well as hepatic insulin clearance.

Overactivation of S6 kinase 1 as a cause of human insulin resistance during increased amino acid availability.

To examine the molecular mechanisms by which plasma amino acid elevation impairs insulin action, we studied seven healthy men twice in random order during infusion of an amino acid mixture or saline (total plasma amino acid approximately 6 vs. approximately 2 mmol/l). Somatostatin-insulin-glucose clamps created conditions of low peripheral hyperinsulinemia ( approximately 100 pmol/l, 0-180 min) and prandial-like peripheral hyperinsulinemia ( approximately 430 pmol/l, 180-360 min). At low peripheral hyperinsulinemia, endogenous glucose production (EGP) did not change during amino acid infusion but decreased by approximately 70% during saline infusion (EGP(150-180 min) 11 +/- 1 vs. 3 +/- 1 mumol . kg(-1) . min(-1), P = 0.001). Prandial-like peripheral hyperinsulinemia completely suppressed EGP during both protocols, whereas whole-body rate of glucose disappearance (R(d)) was approximately 33% lower during amino acid infusion (R(d) (330-360 min) 50 +/- 4 vs. 75 +/- 6 mumol . kg(-1) . min(-1), P = 0.002) indicating insulin resistance. In skeletal muscle biopsies taken before and after prandial-like peripheral hyperinsulinemia, plasma amino acid elevation markedly increased the ability of insulin to activate S6 kinase 1 compared with saline infusion ( approximately 3.7- vs. approximately 1.9-fold over baseline). Furthermore, amino acid infusion increased the inhibitory insulin receptor substrate-1 phosphorylation at Ser312 and Ser636/639 and decreased insulin-induced phosphoinositide 3-kinase activity. However, plasma amino acid elevation failed to reduce insulin-induced Akt/protein kinase B and glycogen synthase kinase 3alpha phosphorylation. In conclusion, amino acids impair 1) insulin-mediated suppression of glucose production and 2) insulin-stimulated glucose disposal in skeletal muscle. Our results suggest that overactivation of the mammalian target of rapamycin/S6 kinase 1 pathway and inhibitory serine phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1 underlie the impairment of insulin action in amino acid-infused humans.

Aging alters PPARgamma in rodent and human adipose tissue by modulating the balance in steroid receptor coactivator-1.

Age is an important risk factor for the development of metabolic diseases (e.g. obesity, diabetes and atherosclerosis). Yet, little is known about the molecular mechanisms occurring upon aging that affect energy metabolism. Although visceral white adipose tissue (vWAT) is known for its key impact on metabolism, recent studies have indicated it could also be a key regulator of lifespan, suggesting that it can serve as a node for age-associated fat accretion. Here we show that aging triggers changes in the transcriptional milieu of the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) in vWAT, which leads to a modified potential for transactivation of target genes upon ligand treatment. We found that in vWAT of mice, rats and men, aging induced a specific decrease in the expression of steroid receptor coactivator-1 (SRC-1), whose recruitment to PPARgamma is associated with improved insulin sensitivity and low adipogenic activity. In contrast, aging and oxidative stress did not impact on PPARgamma expression and PPARgamma ligand production. Age-induced loss of PPARgamma/SRC-1 interactions increased the binding of PPARgamma to the promoter of the adipogenic gene aP2. These findings suggest that strategies aimed at increasing SRC-1 expression and recruitment to PPARgamma upon aging might help improve age-associated metabolic disorders.

Fish oil and argan oil intake differently modulate insulin resistance and glucose intolerance in a rat model of dietary-induced obesity.

We investigated the potential metabolic benefits of fish oil (FO) or vegetable argan oil (AO) intake in a dietary model of obesity-linked insulin resistance. Rats were fed a standard chow diet (controls), a high-fat/high-sucrose (HFHS) diet, or an HFHS diet in which 6% of the fat was replaced by either FO or AO feeding, respectively. The HFHS diet increased adipose tissue weight and insulin resistance as revealed by increased fasting glucose and exaggerated glycemic and insulin responses to a glucose tolerance test (intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test). Fish oil feeding prevented fat accretion, reduced fasting glycemia, and normalized glycemic or insulin responses to intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test as compared with HFHS diet. Unlike FO consumption, AO intake failed to prevent obesity, yet restored fasting glycemia back to chow-fed control values. Insulin-induced phosphorylation of Akt and Erk in adipose tissues, skeletal muscles, and liver was greatly attenuated in HFHS rats as compared with chow-fed controls. High-fat/high-sucrose diet-induced insulin resistance was also confirmed in isolated hepatocytes. Fish oil intake prevented insulin resistance by improving or fully restoring insulin signaling responses in all tissues and isolated hepatocytes. Argan oil intake also improved insulin-dependent phosphorylations of Akt and Erk; and in adipose tissue, these responses were increased even beyond values observed in chow-fed controls. Taken together, these results strongly support the beneficial action of FO on diet-induced insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, an effect likely explained by the ability of FO to prevent HFHS-induced adiposity. Our data also show for the first time that AO can improve some of the metabolic and insulin signaling abnormalities associated with HFHS feeding.

Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids regulate bovine whole-body protein metabolism by promoting muscle insulin signalling to the Akt-mTOR-S6K1 pathway and insulin sensitivity.

The ability of the skeletal musculature to use amino acids to build or renew constitutive proteins is gradually lost with age and this is partly due to a decline in skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity. Since long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCn-3PUFA) from fish oil are known to improve insulin-mediated glucose metabolism in insulin-resistant states, their potential role in regulating insulin-mediated protein metabolism was investigated in this study. Experimental data are based on a switchback design composed of three 5 week experimental periods using six growing steers to compare the effect of a continuous abomasal infusion of LCn-3PUFA-rich menhaden oil with an iso-energetic control oil mixture. Clamp and insulin signalling observations were combined with additional data from a second cohort of six steers. We found that enteral LCn-3PUFA potentiate insulin action by increasing the insulin-stimulated whole-body disposal of amino acids from 152 to 308 micromol kg(-1) h(-1) (P=0.006). The study further showed that in the fed steady-state, chronic adaptation to LCn-3PUFA induces greater activation (P<0.05) of the Akt-mTOR-S6K1 signalling pathway. Simultaneously, whole-body total flux of phenylalanine was reduced from 87 to 67 micromol kg(-1) h(-1) (P=0.04) and oxidative metabolism was decreased (P=0.05). We conclude that chronic feeding of menhaden oil provides a novel nutritional mean to enhance insulin-sensitive aspects of protein metabolism.

Altered glucose homeostasis in mice lacking the receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase sigma.

Several protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) expressed in insulin sensitive-tissues are proposed to attenuate insulin action and could act as key regulators of the insulin receptor (IR) signaling pathway. Among these PTPs, RPTPsigma is expressed in relatively high levels in insulin-target tissues. We show that RPTPsigma-/- knockout mice have reduced plasma glucose and insulin concentrations in the fasted state compared with their wild-type siblings. The knockout animals were also more sensitive to exogenous insulin as assayed by insulin-tolerance tests. Despite increased whole-body insulin sensitivity, tyrosine phosphorylation of the IR was not increased in muscle of RPTPsigma-/- animals, as would be expected in insulin-sensitive animals. Instead, the levels of IR tyrosine phosphorylation and PI3-kinase activity were reduced in the muscle of knockout animals stimulated with insulin in vivo. However, insulin-stimulated Akt serine phosphorylation was essentially identical between both groups of mice. Accordingly, muscles isolated from RPTPsigma-/- mice did not have a significant increase in glucose uptake in response to insulin, suggesting that RPTPsigma did not play a direct role in this process. Taken together, our results suggest an indirect modulation of the IR signaling pathways by RPTPsigma. Since low dose injection of growth hormone (GH) normalized the response to exogenous insulin in RPTPsigma-/- mice, we propose that the insulin hypersensitivity observed in RPTPsigma-/- mice is secondary to their neuroendocrine dysplasia and GH/IGF-1 deficiency.