title: Insulin signaling during perinatal liver development in the rat.
abstract: Insulin has long been assigned a key role in the regulation of growth and metabolism during fetal life. Our prior observations indicated that hepatic insulin signaling is attenuated in the late-gestation fetal rat. Therefore, we studied the perinatal ontogeny of hepatic insulin signaling extending from phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) to the ribosome. Initial studies demonstrated markedly decreased insulin-mediated activation of ribosomal protein S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) in the fetus. We found a similar pattern in the regulation of Akt, a kinase upstream from S6K1. Insulin produced minimal activation of insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1-associated PI3K activity in fetal liver. A modest IRS-2-associated response was seen in the fetus. However, levels of both IRS-1 and IRS-2 were very low in fetal liver relative to adult liver. IRS-1 content and insulin responsiveness of PI3K, Akt, and S6K1 showed a transition to the adult phenotype during the first several postnatal weeks. Examination of downstream insulin signaling to the translational apparatus showed marked attenuation, relative to the adult, of fetal hepatic insulin-mediated phosphorylation of 4E-BP1, the regulatory protein for the eukaryotic initiation factor eIF4E, and ribosomal protein S6. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), a key integrator of nutritional and metabolic regulation of translation, was present in low amounts, was hypophosphorylated, and was not insulin sensitive in the fetus. Our results indicate that protein synthesis during late-gestation liver development may be mTOR and insulin independent. Reexamination of the role of insulin in fetal liver physiology may be warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, USA.
authors.forename: Padmanabhan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Anand
authors.forename: Joan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Boylan
authors.forename: Yangsi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ou
authors.forename: Philip A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Gruppuso
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D055504:Insulin Receptor Substrate Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008099:Liver / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011247:Pregnancy; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis / Q000502:physiology; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D019893:Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D012270:Ribosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D007328:Insulin; D055504:Insulin Receptor Substrate Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D011494:Protein Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D019893:Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases; D058570:TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases; C499526:Eif4ebp1 protein, rat; C526296:Irs1 protein, rat; C526299:Irs2 protein, rat; C546845:mTOR protein, rat; C494920:Akt1 protein, rat