Electrical Pulse Stimulation of Cultured Human Skeletal Muscle Cells as an In Vitro Model of Exercise

Background and Aims Physical exercise leads to substantial adaptive responses in skeletal muscles and plays a central role in a healthy life style. Since exercise induces major systemic responses, underlying cellular mechanisms are difficult to study in vivo. It was therefore desirable to develop an in vitro model that would resemble training in cultured human myotubes. Methods Electrical pulse stimulation (EPS) was applied to adherent human myotubes. Cellular contents of ATP, phosphocreatine (PCr) and lactate were determined. Glucose and oleic acid metabolism were studied using radio-labeled substrates, and gene expression was analyzed using real-time RT-PCR. Mitochondrial content and function were measured by live imaging and determination of citrate synthase activity, respectively. Protein expression was assessed by electrophoresis and immunoblotting. Results High-frequency, acute EPS increased deoxyglucose uptake and lactate production, while cell contents of both ATP and PCr decreased. Chronic, low-frequency EPS increased oxidative capacity of cultured myotubes by increasing glucose metabolism (uptake and oxidation) and complete fatty acid oxidation. mRNA expression level of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex 4 (PDK4) was significantly increased in EPS-treated cells, while mRNA expressions of interleukin 6 (IL-6), cytochrome C and carnitin palmitoyl transferase b (CPT1b) also tended to increase. Intensity of MitoTracker®Red FM was doubled after 48 h of chronic, low-frequency EPS. Protein expression of a slow fiber type marker (MHCI) was increased in EPS-treated cells. Conclusions Our results imply that in vitro EPS (acute, high-frequent as well as chronic, low-frequent) of human myotubes may be used to study effects of exercise.This work was funded by the University of Oslo, Oslo University College, the Norwegian Diabetes Foundation, the Freia Chocolade Fabriks Medical Foundation and the Anders Jahre’s Foundation. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Blodglukosesenkende ­legemidler ved type 2-diabetes

Hensikt Denne artikkelen gir en oversikt over tilgjengelige legemidler, foruten insulin, til behandling av hyperglykemi ved type 2-diabetes. De enkelte legemidlenes virkningsmekanisme, kliniske effekt og bruk, samt viktigste bivirkninger er oppsummert. Materiale og metoder Oversiktsartikkelen er basert på et skjønnsmessig utvalg av relevante artikler funnet etter litteratursøk i databasen PubMed. Resultater og konklusjon Behandling av hyperglykemi ved type 2-diabetes kan være krevende, og for å oppnå og opprettholde god blodglukosekontroll kreves gjerne kombinasjoner av tiltak. Livsstilstiltak bør anbefales først til alle med type 2-diabetes med motivasjon og opplæring i viktigheten av økt fysisk aktivitet, sunt kosthold og vektreduksjon ved overvekt. Der dette ikke fører til ønsket blodglukosekontroll må legemiddelbehandling initieres, og ofte kan kombinasjoner av ulike legemidler med komplementære angrepspunkter være nødvendig. Metformin er førstevalg for de fleste pasientene. Dokumenterte effekter av metformin, sulfonylureapreparatene og glitazoner er 1–1,5 % reduksjon i HbA1c, mens DPP4-hemmere, GLP-1-analoger, SGLT2-hemmere og akarbose har noe lavere blodglukosesenkende effekt. Valg av behandling vil avhenge av den enkelte pasients karakteristika og grad av hyperglykemi

PPARδ activation in human myotubes increases mitochondrial fatty acid oxidative capacity and reduces glucose utilization by a switch in substrate preference.

The role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor δ (PPARδ) activation on global gene expression and mitochondrial fuel utilization were investigated in human myotubes. Only 21 genes were up-regulated and 3 genes were down-regulated after activation by the PPARδ agonist GW501516. Pathway analysis showed up-regulated mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation, TCA cycle and cholesterol biosynthesis. GW501516 increased oleic acid oxidation and mitochondrial oxidative capacity by 2-fold. Glucose uptake and oxidation were reduced, but total substrate oxidation was not affected, indicating a fuel switch from glucose to fatty acid. Cholesterol biosynthesis was increased, but lipid biosynthesis and mitochondrial content were not affected. This study confirmed that the principal effect of PPARδ activation was to increase mitochondrial fatty acid oxidative capacity. Our results further suggest that PPARδ activation reduced glucose utilization through a switch in mitochondrial substrate preference by up-regulating pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase isozyme 4 and genes involved in lipid metabolism and fatty acid oxidation

SENP2 knockdown in human adipocytes reduces glucose metabolism and lipid accumulation, while increases lipid oxidation

Adipose tissue is one of the main regulative sites for energy metabolism. Excess lipid storage and expansion of white adipose tissue (WAT) is the primary contributor to obesity, a strong predisposing factor for development of insulin resistance. Sentrin-specific protease (SENP) 2 has been shown to play a role in metabolism in murine fat and skeletal muscle cells, and we have previously demonstrated its role in energy metabolism of human skeletal muscle cells. In the present work, we have investigated the impact of SENP2 on fatty acid and glucose metabolism in primary human fat cells by using cultured primary human adipocytes to knock down the SENP2 gene. Glucose uptake and oxidation, as well as accumulation and distribution of oleic acid into complex lipids were decreased, while oleic acid oxidation was increased in SENP2-knockdown cells compared to control adipocytes. Furthermore, lipogenesis was reduced by SENP2-knockdown in adipocytes. Although TAG accumulation relative to total uptake was unchanged, there was increased mRNA expression of metabolically relevant genes such as UCP1 and PPARGC1A and mRNA and proteomic data revealed increased levels of mRNA and proteins related to mitochondrial function by SENP2-knockdown. In conclusion, SENP2 is an important regulator of energy metabolism in primary human adipocytes and its knockdown reduce glucose metabolism and lipid accumulation, while increasing lipid oxidation in human adipocytes

Eicosapentaenoic acid improves metabolic switching in human myotubes

Metabolically healthy skeletal muscle is characterized by the ability to switch easily between glucose and fat oxidation, whereas loss of this ability seems to be related to insulin resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate whether different fatty acids (FAs) and the LXR ligand T0901317 affected metabolic switching in human skeletal muscle cells (myotubes). Pretreatment of myotubes with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) increased suppressibility, the ability of glucose to suppress FA oxidation, and metabolic flexibility, the ability to increase FA oxidation when changing from “fed” to “fasted” state. Adaptability, the capacity to increase FA oxidation with increasing FA availability, was increased after pretreatment with EPA, linoleic acid (LA) and palmitic acid (PA). T0901317 counteracted the effect of EPA on suppressibility and adaptability, but did not affect these parameters alone. EPA itself accumulated less, however, EPA, LA, OA and T0901317 increased the number of lipid droplets (LDs) in myotubes, whereas LD size and mitochondria amount were independent of pretreatment. Microarray analysis showed that EPA regulated more genes than the other FAs. Some pathways involved in carbohydrate metabolism were induced only by EPA. The present study suggests a possible favorable effect of EPA on skeletal muscle metabolic switching and glucose utilization

Eicosapentaenoic acid improves metabolic switching in human myotubes

Metabolically healthy skeletal muscle is characterized by the ability to switch easily between glucose and fat oxidation, whereas loss of this ability seems to be related to insulin resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate whether different fatty acids (FAs) and the LXR ligand T0901317 affected metabolic switching in human skeletal muscle cells (myotubes). Pretreatment of myotubes with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) increased suppressibility, the ability of glucose to suppress FA oxidation, and metabolic flexibility, the ability to increase FA oxidation when changing from “fed” to “fasted” state. Adaptability, the capacity to increase FA oxidation with increasing FA availability, was increased after pretreatment with EPA, linoleic acid (LA) and palmitic acid (PA). T0901317 counteracted the effect of EPA on suppressibility and adaptability, but did not affect these parameters alone. EPA itself accumulated less, however, EPA, LA, OA and T0901317 increased the number of lipid droplets (LDs) in myotubes, whereas LD size and mitochondria amount were independent of pretreatment. Microarray analysis showed that EPA regulated more genes than the other FAs. Some pathways involved in carbohydrate metabolism were induced only by EPA. The present study suggests a possible favorable effect of EPA on skeletal muscle metabolic switching and glucose utilization

LXR antagonists induce ABCD2 expression

X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) is a rare neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the accumulation of very-long-chain fatty acids resulting from a β-oxidation defect. Oxidative stress and inflammation are also key components of the pathogenesis. X-ALD is caused by mutations in the ABCD1 gene, which encodes for a peroxisomal half ABC transporter predicted to participate in the entry of VLCFA-CoA into the peroxisome, the unique site of their β-oxidation. Two homologous peroxisomal ABC transporters, ABCD2 and ABCD3 have been proven to compensate for ABCD1 deficiency when overexpressed. Pharmacological induction of these target genes could therefore represent an alternative therapy for X-ALD patients. Since LXR activation was shown to repress ABCD2 expression, we investigated the effects of LXR antagonists in different cell lines. Cells were treated with GSK(17) (a LXR antagonist recently discovered from the GlaxoSmithKline compound collection), 22(S)-hydroxycholesterol (22S-HC, another LXR antagonist) and 22R-HC (an endogenous LXR agonist). We observed up-regulation of ABCD2, ABCD3 and CTNNB1 (the gene encoding for β-catenin, which was recently demonstrated to induce ABCD2 expression) in human HepG2 hepatoma cells and in X-ALD skin fibroblasts treated with LXR antagonists. Interestingly, induction in X-ALD fibroblasts was concomitant with a decrease in oxidative stress. Rats treated with 22S-HC showed hepatic induction of the 3 genes of interest. In human, we show by multiple tissue expression array that expression of ABCD2 appears to be inversely correlated with NR1H3 (LXRα) expression. Altogether, antagonists of LXR that are currently developed in the context of dyslipidemia may find another indication with X-ALD