Metabolic syndrome is devastating our health care system and compromising the quality of life for millions. Understanding the pathogenesis of this condition is paramount to eliminating it. The metabolic syndrome is an epidemic because people have adopted a diet for which they are poorly adapted and a lifestyle that is largely inactive. Hepatic metabolic dysfunction associated with inadequate substrate oxidation, lipid accumulation, and dyslipidemia is a hallmark of metabolic syndrome as it is evident early in its development and is associated with the severity of other symptoms. It has been speculated that liver metabolic dysfunction is a causative step in the natural progression to metabolic syndrome. Despite the central role of liver metabolism to overall """"""""metabolic health,"""""""" the mechanism for its effectiveness in healthy physically active states, the factors responsible for dysfunction, and the means to correct dysfunction are poorly understood. The protocols that comprise this proposal are designed to define mechanisms that control (i) intra-hepatic energy balance during acute perturbations and (ii) intra-hepatic and whole body energy balance by modifications in diet and physical activity. The finding from the present grant cycle that shapes the aims of this proposal is based on an observation so fundamental to metabolism that it will influence flux control at the most basic level. What we have shown is that the energy state of the """"""""healthy liver"""""""" undergoes dramatic deviations. Cellular energy status is tightly controlled in most tissues of the body, so that cells are in a highly charged state (low AMP:ATP). However, physiological conditions such as exercise and fasting can trigger a five- to tenfold increase in the AMP:ATP in liver. We will test whether (a) the increase in hepatic AMP:ATP during glucagon stimulation and exercise is due to ATP hydrolysis associated with the energetics of gluconeogenesis;(b) the nucleotide monophosphates signal the stimulation of hepatic substrate oxidation through the activation of AMPK11 and AMPK12 subunits;and (c) the hepatic adaptations to high fat feeding and physical activity are AMPK-dependent. The regulation of hepatic metabolism will be studied using surgical and experimental tools that allow well-controlled experiments to be carried out in vivo. Glucagon infusion, treadmill exercise, wheel running and high fat feeding will be used as tools to amplify physiological signals and as a means of perturbing hepatic metabolic control. Mechanisms of action and sites of dysfunction will be delineated using well-defined genetic mouse models. Hepatic substrate metabolism will be quantified using sophisticated isotopic approaches employing 2H and 13C NMR analytical techniques. These studies will define how liver substrate fluxes are regulated in the healthy liver and where sites of dysfunction lie in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome and hepatic insulin resistance.

Public Health Relevance

. Metabolic syndrome and Type II diabetes are an enormous burden on our health care system. The physiological adaptations to exercise decrease the risk of developing these conditions, at least in part by improving liver metabolic function.
The aim of this proposal is to elucidate the mechanism by which exercise improves metabolic regulation by the liver.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Type
Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award (R37)
Project #
5R37DK050277-15
Application #
7640728
Study Section
Skeletal Muscle and Exercise Physiology Study Section (SMEP)
Program Officer
Laughlin, Maren R
Project Start
1995-07-01
Project End
2013-05-31
Budget Start
2009-06-01
Budget End
2010-05-31
Support Year
15
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$368,779
Indirect Cost
Name
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Department
Physiology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
004413456
City
Nashville
State
TN
Country
United States
Zip Code
37212
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Wasserman, David H; Wang, Thomas J; Brown, Nancy J (2018) The Vasculature in Prediabetes. Circ Res 122:1135-1150
Hunter, Roger W; Hughey, Curtis C; Lantier, Louise et al. (2018) Metformin reduces liver glucose production by inhibition of fructose-1-6-bisphosphatase. Nat Med 24:1395-1406
Hughey, Curtis C; James, Freyja D; Bracy, Deanna P et al. (2017) Loss of hepatic AMP-activated protein kinase impedes the rate of glycogenolysis but not gluconeogenic fluxes in exercising mice. J Biol Chem 292:20125-20140
Williams, Ashley S; Trefts, Elijah; Lantier, Louise et al. (2017) Integrin-Linked Kinase Is Necessary for the Development of Diet-Induced Hepatic Insulin Resistance. Diabetes 66:325-334
Lantier, Louise; Williams, Ashley S; Williams, Ian M et al. (2015) SIRT3 Is Crucial for Maintaining Skeletal Muscle Insulin Action and Protects Against Severe Insulin Resistance in High-Fat-Fed Mice. Diabetes 64:3081-92
Williams, Ashley S; Kang, Li; Wasserman, David H (2015) The extracellular matrix and insulin resistance. Trends Endocrinol Metab 26:357-66
Williams, Ashley S; Kang, Li; Zheng, Jenny et al. (2015) Integrin ?1-null mice exhibit improved fatty liver when fed a high fat diet despite severe hepatic insulin resistance. J Biol Chem 290:6546-57
Trefts, Elijah; Williams, Ashley S; Wasserman, David H (2015) Exercise and the Regulation of Hepatic Metabolism. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci 135:203-25

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