Hormonal regulation of the novel adipocytokine visfatin in 3T3-L1 adipocytes

• Published in: Journal of endocrinology Vol. 185; no. 3; pp. R1 - R8
• Main Authors: Kralisch, Susan, Klein, Johannes, Lossner, Ulrike, Bluher, Matthias, Paschke, Ralf, Stumvoll, Michael, Fasshauer, Mathias
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Colchester BioScientifica 01.06.2005; Portland Press
• Subjects: 3T3-L1 Cells; Adipocytes - drug effects; Adipocytes - metabolism; Adrenergic beta-Agonists - pharmacology; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Cell Culture Techniques; Cell Differentiation; Cholera Toxin - pharmacology; Colforsin - pharmacology; Cyclic AMP - metabolism; Cytokines - genetics; Cytokines - metabolism; Depression, Chemical; Dexamethasone - pharmacology; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Gene Expression Regulation - drug effects; Glucocorticoids - pharmacology; Growth Hormone - pharmacology; GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gs - metabolism; Isoproterenol - pharmacology; Male; Medical sciences; Metabolic diseases; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase; Obesity; Rapid Communications; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA, Messenger - analysis; Time Factors; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha - pharmacology; Adipocyte; Obesity; Embryo; Rodentia; Adipokine; Gene expression; In vitro; Biological activity; Metabolic disorder; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Cell line; Mouse; Adult animal; Insulin resistance; Quantitative analysis
• ISSN: 0022-0795; 1479-6805
• DOI: 10.1677/joe.1.06211

Recently, visfatin was characterized as a novel adipo-cytokine that is upregulated in obesity and exerts insulin-mimetic effects in various tissues. To clarify expression and regulation of this adipocytokine, visfatin mRNA was measured by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in 3T3-L1 adipocytes during adipogenesis and after treatment with various hormones known to alter insulin sensitivity. Visfatin expression was about 6-fold higher in 3T3-L1 adipocytes in vitro as compared with epididymal fat in vivo and increased during adipogenic conversion more than 3-fold. Interestingly, 100 nM dexamethasone significantly increased visfatin mRNA by almost 1.5-fold. In contrast, 500 ng/ml growth hormone (GH), 10 ng/ml tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α, and 10 μM isoproterenol downregulated visfatin expression by 45%, 36%, and 43% respectively. Insulin did not influence synthesis of this adipocytokine. The effects of dexamethasone, GH, TNFα and isoproterenol were time- and dose-dependent. Furthermore, activation of Gs-protein-coupled pathways by forskolin and cholera toxin was sufficient to significantly downregulate visfatin mRNA. Taken together, our results show a differential regulation of visfatin mRNA by insulin resistance-inducing hormones, supporting the view that this adipo-cytokine might be an interesting novel candidate linking core components of the metabolic syndrome such as obesity and insulin resistance.