Adrenergic stimulation of lipoprotein lipase gene expression in rat brown adipocytes differentiated in culture: mediation via β3- and α1-adrenergic receptors

Abstract

In order to investigate whether the positive effect of adrenergic stimulation on lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene expression in brown adipose tissue is a direct effect on the brown adipocytes themselves, the expression of the LPL gene was investigated by measuring LPL mRNA levels in brown adipocytes, isolated as precursors from the brown adipose tissue of rats and grown in culture in a fully defined medium before experimentation. Addition of noradrenaline led to an enhancement of LPL gene expression; the mRNA levels increased as a linear function of time for at least 5 h and were finally approx. 3 times higher than in control cells, an increase commensurate with that seen in vivoin both LPL mRNA levels and LPL activity during physiological stimulation. The increase was dependent on transcription. The effect of noradrenaline showed simple MichaelisŐMenten kinetics with an EC50 of approx. 11 nM. β3-Agonists (BRL-37344 and CGP-12177) could mimic the effect of noradrenaline; the β1-agonist dobutamine and the β2-agonist salbutamol could not; the α1-agonist cirazoline had only a weak effect. The effect of noradrenaline was fully inhibited by the β-antagonist propranolol and was halved by the α1-antagonist prazosin; the α2-antagonist yohimbine was without effect. An increase in LPL mRNA level similar to (but not significantly exceeding) that caused by noradrenaline could also be induced by the cAMP-elevating agents forskolin and cholera toxin, and 8-Br-cAMP also increased LPL mRNA levels. The increase in LPL gene expression was not mediated via an increase in the level of an intermediary proteinaceous factor. It is concluded that the physiologically induced increase in LPL gene expression is a direct effect of noradrenaline on the brown adipocytes themselves, mediated via a dominant β3-adrenergic pathway and an auxillary α1-adrenergic pathway which converge at a regulatory point in transcriptional control.