Project description:Excessive glucose production in the liver is a key factor in the hyperglycemia observed in diabetes mellitus type 2. It is generally agreed to result from an increase in hepatic gluconeogenesis. Considerable attention has been devoted to the transcriptional regulation of key gluconeogenic enzymes, but much less is known about the regulation of amino-acid catabolism, which generates gluconeogenic substrates. Here, we highlight a novel role of LKB1 in this regulation. We show that mice with a hepatocyte-specific deletion of Lkb1 have higher levels of hepatic amino acid catabolism, driving gluconeogenesis. This effect was observed during both fasting and the postprandial period, identifying Lkb1 as a critical suppressor of postprandial hepatic gluconeogenesis. Hepatic Lkb1 deletion was associated with major changes in whole-body metabolism, leading to a lower lean body mass and, in the longer term, sarcopenia and cachexia, as a consequence of the diversion of amino acids to liver metabolism at the expense of muscle. Using genetic and pharmacological approaches, we identified the aminotransferases and specifically, Agxt as effectors of the suppressor function of Lkb1 in amino acid-driven gluconeogenesis. The present dataset is from the phosphoproteomic analysis of the refed mice in a study where a global quantitative analysis ( PXD013478 ) is also described in the same publication.
Project description:Excessive glucose production in the liver is a key factor in the hyperglycemia observed in diabetes mellitus type 2. It is generally agreed to result from an increase in hepatic gluconeogenesis. Considerable attention has been devoted to the transcriptional regulation of key gluconeogenic enzymes, but much less is known about the regulation of amino-acid catabolism, which generates gluconeogenic substrates. Here, we highlight a novel role of LKB1 in this regulation. We show that mice with a hepatocyte-specific deletion of Lkb1 have higher levels of hepatic amino acid catabolism, driving gluconeogenesis. This effect was observed during both fasting and the postprandial period, identifying Lkb1 as a critical suppressor of postprandial hepatic gluconeogenesis. Hepatic Lkb1 deletion was associated with major changes in whole-body metabolism, leading to a lower lean body mass and, in the longer term, sarcopenia and cachexia, as a consequence of the diversion of amino acids to liver metabolism at the expense of muscle. Using genetic and pharmacological approaches, we identified the aminotransferases and specifically, Agxt as effectors of the suppressor function of Lkb1 in amino acid-driven gluconeogenesis. The present dataset is from the phosphoproteomic analysis of fasting mice in a study where a global quantitative analysis ( PXD013478 ) is also described in the same publication.
Project description:Effect of Cyld inactivation in liver. The Cyld gene was conditionally inactivated specifically in the liver by crossing mice carrying floxed exon 9 allele of Cyld with Alfp-Cre transgenic mice. Liver RNAs from Cyld lox/lox-AlfpCre mice were compared with RNAs prepared from the livers of wild type littermates.
Project description:The liver plays a central role in whole-body lipid and glucose homeostasis. Increasing dietary fat intake results in increased hepatic fat deposition, which is associated with a risk for development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. In this study, we demonstrate a role for the phosphate inorganic transporter 1 (PiT1/SLC20A1) in regulating metabolism. Specific knockout of Pit1 in hepatocytes significantly improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, enhanced insulin signalling, and decreased hepatic lipogenesis. We identified USP7 as a PiT1 binding partner and demonstrated that Pit1 deletion inhibited USP7/IRS1 dissociation upon insulin stimulation. This prevented IRS1 ubiquitination and its subsequent proteasomal degradation. As a consequence delayed insulin negative feedback loop and sustained insulin signalling were observed. Moreover, PiT1-deficient mice were protected against high fat diet-induced obesity and diabetes. Our findings indicate that PiT1 has potential as a therapeutic target in the context of metabolic syndrome, obesity, and diabetes.
Project description:The HGF/c-Met system is an essential inducer of hepatocyte growth and proliferation. Although a fundamental role for the HGF receptor c-Met has been demonstrated in acute liver regeneration its cell specific role in hepatocytes during chronic liver injury and fibrosis progression has not been determined yet. In order to better characterize the role of c-Met in hepatocytes we generated a hepatocyte-specific c-Met knockout mouse (c-MetM-bM-^HM-^Fhepa) using the Cre-loxP system and studied its relevance after bile-duct ligation. Two strategies for c-Met deletion in hepatocytes were tested. Early deletion during embryonic development was lethal, while post-natal Cre-expression was successful leading to the generation of viable c-MetM-bM-^HM-^Fhepa mice. Bile-duct ligation in these mice resulted in extensive necrosis and lower proliferation rates of hepatocytes. Gene array analysis of c-MetM-bM-^HM-^Fhepa mice revealed a significant reduction of anti-apoptotic genes in c-Met deleted hepatocytes. These findings could be functionally tested as c-MetM-bM-^HM-^Fhepa mice showed a stronger apoptotic response after bile-duct ligation and Jo-2 stimulation. This phenotype was associated with increased expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-a and IL-6) and an enhanced recruitment of neutrophils. Activation of these mechanisms triggered a stronger pro-fibrogenic response as evidenced by increased TGF-b1, a-SMA, collagen-1a mRNA expression and enhanced collagen-fiber staining in c-MetM-bM-^HM-^Fhepa mice. For gene array analysis c-MetDhepa and c-MetloxP/loxP controls were stimulated for 2 hours with 2M-BM-5g recombinant mouse HGF.Three animals per group were treated in parallel, before and after i.p. injection of recombinant HGF or NaCl.
Project description:A "Cartes d'Identite des Tumeurs" (CIT) project from the french Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer (http://cit.ligue-cancer.net). This work aims to demonstrate a key role for the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway in liver embryonic growth and in controlling the fate of hepatoblasts, preventing them to differentiate towards the hepatocyte lineage, and guiding them to a duct morphogenesis. Through the inactivation of Apc (adenomatous Polyposis Coli) tumor suppressor gene in hepatoblasts by a Cre-loxP strategy, the ectopic activation of beta-catenin targeted in hepatoblasts after liver bud formation leads to a lethal embryonic phenotype, characterized by liver hypoplasia, a blockade of hepatocyte differentiation and commitment to a biliary fate. (this work was supported by INSERM and the B^SLigue Nationale
Project description:Targeted therapies have the potential to revolutionize cancer care by providing personalized treatment strategies that are less toxic and more effective but it is clear that for most solid tumors suppression of a single target is not sufficient to prevent development of resistance. A powerful method to identify mechanisms of resistance and targets for combination therapy is to use an in vivo genetic approach. We have developed a novel retroviral gene delivery mouse model of melanoma that permits control of gene expression post-delivery using the tetracycline (tet)-regulated system. In this study we used this melanoma model to select for resistant tumors following genetic inhibition of mutant NRAS. Analysis of tumors that became resistant to NRAS suppression revealed that the most common mechanism of resistance was overexpression of the Met receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK). Importantly, inhibition of Met overcomes NRAS resistance in this context. Analysis of NRAS mutant human melanoma cells revealed that inhibition of MEK is also associated with adaptive RTK signaling. Furthermore, co-inhibition of RTK signaling and MEK overcomes acquired MEK inhibitor resistance in NRAS mutant melanoma. These data suggest that combined inhibition of RTK and MEK signaling is a rational therapeutic strategy in mutant NRAS driven melanoma. Reversible NRAS Q61R expression in the melanocytes of DCT-TVA;Ink4a/Arf lox/lox mice (FVB/n) was achieved by transducing the animals with Tet-off and TRE-NRASQ61R-IRES-Cre avian leukosis viruses. After tumor initiation, the expression of NRAS Q61R was turned off by administrating doxycycline. Despite initial regression, tumors in 40% of mice developed resistance to NRAS Q61R withdraw. Seven resistant tumors and one control tumor where NRAS Q61R expression was not interrupted were subjected to genome-wide gene expression profiling.
Project description:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, endogenous, non-protein coding RNAs that are an important means of post-transcriptional gene regulation. Deletion of Dicer, a key miRNA processing enzyme, is embryonic lethal in mice, and tissue-specific Dicer deletion results in developmental defects. Using a conditional knockout model, we generated mice lacking Dicer in the adrenal cortex. These Dicer knockout (KO) mice exhibited perinatal mortality and failure of the adrenal cortex during late gestation between embryonic day 16.5 (E16.5) and E18.5. Further study of Dicer KO adrenals demonstrated a significant loss of Sf1 expressing cortical cells that was histologically evident as early as E16.5 coincident with an increase in p21 and cleaved-caspase 3 staining in the cortex. However, peripheral cortical proliferation persisted in KO adrenals as assessed by anti-PCNA staining. To further characterize the embryonic adrenals from Dicer KO mice, we performed microarray analyses for both gene expression and miRNA on purified RNA isolated from control and KO adrenals of E15.5 and E16.5 embryos. Consistent with the absence of Dicer and the associated loss of miRNA-mediated mRNA degradation, we observed an up-regulation of a small subset of adrenal transcripts in Dicer KO mice, most notably the transcripts coded by the genes Nr6a1 and Acvr1c. Indeed, several miRNAs, including let-7, miR-34c, and miR-21 that are predicted to target these genes for degradation, were also markedly down-regulated in Dicer KO adrenals. Together these data suggest a role for miRNA mediated regulation of a subset of genes that are essential for normal adrenal growth and homeostasis. Adrenals from control and Dicer KO litter mates were pooled separately from 4 individual litters, resulting in a total of 4 control (cre-) and 4 Dicer KO biological replicates at both E15.5 and E16.5.
Project description:Expression analysis of CEBPa knockout effects on gene expression in adult mouse liver. We used a conditional knock out strategy to delete CEBPa specifically in adult mouse hepatocytes and analysed the resulting changes in gene expression by means of microarrays.
Project description:Suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) down-regulates several signaling pathways in multiple cell types, and previous data suggest that SOCS3 may shut off cytokine activation at the early stages of liver regeneration. We developed hepatocyte-specific Socs3 knockout (Socs3 h-KO) mice to directly study the role of SOCS3 during liver regeneration after 2/3 partial hepatectomy (PH). Socs3 h-KO mice demonstrate marked enhancement of DNA replication and liver weight restoration after 2/3 PH in comparison with littermate controls. Without SOCS3, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) phosphorylation is prolonged, and activation of the mitogenic kinases extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) is enhanced after PH. In vitro, we show that SOCS3 deficiency enhances hepatocyte proliferation in association with enhanced STAT3 and ERK activation after epidermal growth factor (EGF) or interleukin 6 (IL-6) stimulation. Microarray analyses show that SOCS3 modulates a distinct set of genes after PH, which fall into diverse physiologic categories. Using a model of chemical-induced carcinogenesis, we found that Socs3 h-KO mice develop hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) at an accelerated rate. By acting on cytokines and multiple proliferative pathways, SOCS3 modulates both physiologic and neoplastic proliferative processes in the liver, and may act as a tumor suppressor. Experiment Overall Design: Hepatocyte-specific excision of the Socs3 gene was achieved by breeding Socs3 fl/fl mice with mice expressing the Cre recombinase transgene under control of the albumin promoter (Alb-Cre+), yielding Socs3 h-KO mice. Socs3 fl/fl, Alb-Cre- littermates were used as controls for all experiments, and are henceforth referred to as littermates. All mice (C57BL/6) were free of Helicobacter species, housed in a specific pathogen free facility with 12-h light/dark cycles with free access to standard food and water. 2/3 PH and sham operations were performed as previously described (15, 50) (n=3-6 mice per genotype per time point). Liver remnants were weighed after removal of necrotic stumps and sutures, and compared to post-operative body weight. For HCC experiments, a single i.p. injection of DEN (5mg/kg, Sigma) was performed 12-14 d after birth. For short time points, a single injection of DEN (100mg/kg) (31) was given to 4 wk old mice. At indicated time points, mice were sacrificed by CO2 inhalation. All animal studies were carried out under approved IACUC protocols at the University of Washington.