title: Jatropha curcas Protein Concentrate Stimulates Insulin Signaling, Lipogenesis, Protein Synthesis and the PKCα Pathway in Rat Liver.
abstract: Jatropha curcas is an oil seed plant that belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family. Nontoxic genotypes have been reported in Mexico. The purpose of the present work was to evaluate the effect of a Mexican variety of J. curcas protein concentrate (JCP) on weight gain, biochemical parameters, and the expression of genes and proteins involved in insulin signaling, lipogenesis, cholesterol and protein synthesis in rats. The results demonstrated that short-term consumption of JCP increased serum glucose, insulin, triglycerides and cholesterol levels as well as the expression of transcription factors involved in lipogenesis and cholesterol synthesis (SREBP-1 and LXRα). Moreover, there was an increase in insulin signaling mediated by Akt phosphorylation and mTOR. JCP also increased PKCα protein abundance and the activation of downstream signaling pathway targets such as the AP1 and NF-κB transcription factors typically activated by phorbol esters. These results suggested that phorbol esters are present in JCP, and that they could be involved in the activation of PKC which may be responsible for the high insulin secretion and consequently the activation of insulin-dependent pathways. Our data suggest that this Mexican Jatropha variety contains toxic compounds that produce negative metabolic effects which require caution when using in the applications of Jatropha-based products in medicine and nutrition.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ingenieria Bioquímica, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas-IPN, Prolongación de Carpio y Plan de Ayala S/N, CP 11340, México, D.F., Mexico.
authors.forename: Liliana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: León-López
authors.forename: Claudia C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Márquez-Mota
authors.forename: Laura A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Velázquez-Villegas
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gálvez-Mariscal
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Arrieta-Báez
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dávila-Ortiz
authors.forename: Armando R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Tovar
authors.forename: Nimbe
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Torres
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism*; D031286:Jatropha / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification; D050155:Lipogenesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008800:Mexico; D010703:Phorbol Esters / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000494:pharmacology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D051571:Protein Kinase C-alpha / Q000378:metabolism*; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013045:Species Specificity; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D004044:Dietary Proteins; D007328:Insulin; D010703:Phorbol Esters; D010936:Plant Extracts; D010940:Plant Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D051571:Protein Kinase C-alpha