This article reviews evidence for a pivotal role of glucokinase as glucose sensor of the pancreatic beta-cells. Glucokinase explains the capacity, hexose specificity, affinities, sigmoidicity, and anomeric preference of pancreatic islet glycolysis, and because stimulation of glucose metabolism is a prerequisite of glucose stimulation of insulin release, glucokinase also explains many characteristics of this beta-cell function. Glucokinase of the beta-cell is induced or activated by glucose in contrast to liver glucokinase, which is regulated by insulin. Tissue-specific regulation corresponds with observations that liver and pancreatic beta-cell glucokinase are structurally distinct. Glucokinase could play a glucose-sensor role in hepatocytes as well, and certain forms of diabetes mellitus might be due to glucokinase deficiencies in pancreatic beta-cells, hepatocytes, or both.

Glucokinase as glucose sensor and metabolic signal generator in pancreatic beta-cells and hepatocytes.

Widely held theories of the pathogenesis of obesity-associated NIDDM have implicated apparently incompatible events as seminal: 1) insulin resistance in muscle, 2) abnormal secretion of insulin, and 3) increases in intra-abdominal fat Altered circulating or tissue lipids are characteristic features of obesity and NIDDM The etiology of these defects is not known In this perspective, we propose that the same metabolic events, elevated malonyl-CoA and long-chain acyl-CoA (LC-CoA), in various tissues mediate, in part, the pleiotropic alterations characteristic of obesity and NIDDM We review the evidence in support of the emerging concept that malonyl-CoA and LC-CoA act as metabolic coupling factors in beta-cell signal transduction, linking fuel metabolism to insulin secretion We suggest that acetyl-CoA carboxylase, which synthesizes malonyl-CoA, a "signal of plenty," and carnitine palmitoyl transferase 1, which is regulated by it, may perform as fuel sensors in the beta-cell, integrating the concentrations of all circulating fuel stimuli in the beta-cell as well as in muscle, liver, and adipose tissue The target effectors of LC-CoA may include protein kinase C sub-types, complex lipid formation, genes encoding metabolic enzymes or transduction factors, and protein acylation We support the concept that only under conditions in which both glucose and lipids are plentiful will the metabolic abnormality, which may be termed glucolipoxia, become apparent If our hypothesis is correct that common signaling abnormalities in the metabolism of malonyl-CoA and LC-CoA contribute to altered insulin release and sensitivity, it offers a novel explanation for the presence of variable combinations of these defects in individuals with differing genetic backgrounds and for the fact that it has been difficult to determine whether one or the other is the primary event

Are the beta-cell signaling molecules malonyl-CoA and cystolic long-chain acyl-CoA implicated in multiple tissue defects of obesity and NIDDM?

Although it is an established concept that the liver is important in the disposition of glucose, the quantitative contribution of the splanchnic and peripheral tissues, respectively, to the disposal of an oral glucose load is still controversial. In the present investigation, we have employed the hepatic venous catheter technique in combination with a double-tracer approach (in which the glucose pool is labeled with 3H-glucose and the oral glucose load is labeled with 14C-glucose) to quantitate the four determinants of oral glucose tolerance: rate of oral glucose appearance, splanchnic glucose uptake, peripheral glucose uptake, and suppression of hepatic glucose production. Studies were carried out in 11 normal volunteers in the overnight-fasted state and for 3.5 h after the ingestion of glucose (1 g/kg body wt; range, 55-93 g). In the postabsorptive state, the rate of endogenous (hepatic) glucose production, evaluated from the 3H-glucose infusion, was 2.34 +/- 0.06 mg/min X kg. Glucose ingestion was accompanied by a prompt reduction of endogenous glucose output, which reached a nadir of 0.62 +/- 0.23 mg/min X kg at 45 min and remained suppressed after 3.5 h (0.85 +/- 0.22 mg/min X kg). The average inhibition of hepatic glucose output during the absorptive period was 53 +/- 5%. The appearance of ingested glucose in arterial blood, as derived from the 14C-glucose measurements after correction for recycling 14-C radioactivity, reached a peak after 15-30 min, and 14C-glucose continued to enter the systemic circulation throughout the observation period. The rate of appearance of ingested glucose was 2.47 +/- 0.45 mg/min X kg at 3.5 h. A total of 73 +/- 4% of the oral load was recovered in the systemic circulation within 3.5 h.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The Disposal of an Oral Glucose Load in Healthy Subjects: A Quantitative Study

A technique is described for examining in vivo insulin action on glucose utilization in individual tissues in the intact conscious rat. Indices of tissue glucose metabolic rate Rg' and of the percentage of total glucose uptake incorporated into specific storage products (Cf) are derived from tissue analysis after bolus administration of 2-[3H]deoxyglucose and [14C]glucose during the plateau phase of the euglycemic clamp. The effects of insulin elevation have been examined in several tissues. Rg' in diaphragm increased 10-fold over basal (maximal) with a half-maximal sensitivity (ED50) of 150 mU/l. This was similar to the ED50 for net whole body glucose utilization of 133 mU/l. In adipose tissue Rg' increased by twofold and Cf into lipids by sixfold; both were near maximal at 150 mU/l (ED50 of 60 mU/l). A small but significant insulin effect (Rg' increased 2-fold) was found in lung. Insulin did not significantly increase Cf into total liver lipids or glycogen. The methodology described here significantly increases the usefulness of the glucose clamp technique in the study of insulin action. Dose-response curves for insulin action during the euglycemic clamp vary considerably among different target tissues in the rat.

Dose-response curves for in vivo insulin sensitivity in individual tissues in rats.

Conversion of glucose into glycogen is a major pathway that contributes to the removal of glucose from the portal vein by the liver in the postprandial state. It is regulated in part by the increase in blood-glucose concentration in the portal vein, which activates glucokinase, the first enzyme in the pathway, causing an increase in the concentration of glucose 6-P (glucose 6-phosphate), which modulates the phosphorylation state of downstream enzymes by acting synergistically with other allosteric effectors. Glucokinase is regulated by a hierarchy of transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms that are only partially understood. In the fasted state, glucokinase is in part sequestered in the nucleus in an inactive state, complexed to a specific regulatory protein, GKRP (glucokinase regulatory protein). This reserve pool is rapidly mobilized to the cytoplasm in the postprandial state in response to an elevated concentration of glucose. The translocation of glucokinase between the nucleus and cytoplasm is modulated by various metabolic and hormonal conditions. The elevated glucose 6-P concentration, consequent to glucokinase activation, has a synergistic effect with glucose in promoting dephosphorylation (inactivation) of glycogen phosphorylase and inducing dephosphorylation (activation) of glycogen synthase. The latter involves both a direct ligand-induced conformational change and depletion of the phosphorylated form of glycogen phosphorylase, which is a potent allosteric inhibitor of glycogen synthase phosphatase activity associated with the glycogen-targeting protein, GL [hepatic glycogen-targeting subunit of PP-1 (protein phosphatase-1) encoded by PPP1R3B]. Defects in both the activation of glucokinase and in the dephosphorylation of glycogen phosphorylase are potential contributing factors to the dysregulation of hepatic glucose metabolism in Type 2 diabetes.

Glucokinase and molecular aspects of liver glycogen metabolism.

Studies were conducted to determine whether the direction of hepatic carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in the rat could be switched simultaneously from a "fasted" to a "fed" profile in vitro. When incubated for 2 h under appropriate conditions hepatocytes from fasted animals could be induced to synthesize glycogen at in vivo rates. There was concomitant marked elevation of the tissue malonyl-coenzyme A level, acceleration of fatty acid synthesis, and suppression of fatty acid oxidation and ketogenesis. In agreement with reports from some laboratories, but contrary to popular belief, glucose was not taken up efficiently by the cells and was thus a poor substrate for eigher glycogen synthesis or lipogenesis. The best precursor for glycogen formation was fructose, whereas lactate (pyruvate) was most efficient in lipogenesis. In both case the addition of glucose to the gluconeogenic substrates was stimulatory, the highest rates being obtained with the further inclusion of glutamine. Insulin was neither necessary for, nor did it stimulate, glycogen deposition or fatty acid synthesis under favorable substrate conditions. Glucagon at physiological concentrations inhibited both glycogen formation and fatty acid synthesis. Insulin readily reversed the effects of glucagon in the submaximal range of its concentration curve. The following conclusions were drawn. First, the fasted-to-fed transition of hepatic carbohydrate and lipid metabolism can be accomplished in vitro over a time frame similar to that operative in vivo. Second, reversal appears to be a substrate-driven phenomenon, in that insulin is not required. Third, unless an unidentified factor (present in protal blood during feeding) facilitates the uptake of glucose by liver it seems unlikely that glucose is the immediate precursor for liver glycogen or fat synthesis in vivo. A likely candidate for the primary substrate in both processes is lactate, which is rapidly formed from glucose by the small intestine and peripheral tissues. Fructose and amino acids may also contribute. Fourth, the requirement for insulin in the reversal of the fasting state of liver metabolism in vivo can best be explained by its ability to offset the catabolic actions of glucagon.

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M. E. Boyd

Papers

In vitro reversal of the fasting state of liver metabolism in the rat. Reevaluation of the roles of insulin and glucose.

Regulation of hepatic fatty acid oxidation in the rat during feeding and starvation.