A renaissance in medical biochemistry - Hepatology and Endocrinology kick it up a Notch!

COMMENTARY ON: Inhibition of Notch signaling ameliorates insulin resistance in a FoxO1-dependent manner. Pajvani UB, Shawber CJ, Samuel VT, Birkenfeld AL, Shulman GI, Kitajewski J, Accili D. Nat Med. July 31, 2011;17(8):961–7. Copyright (2012). Abstract reprinted by permission from McMillan Publishers Ltd. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21804540 Transcription factor FoxO1 promotes hepatic glucose production. Genetic inhibition of FoxO1 function prevents diabetes in experimental animal models, providing impetus to identify pharmacological approaches to modulate this function. Altered Notch signaling is evident in tumorigenesis, and Notch antagonists are in clinical testing for application in cancer. Here we report that FoxO1 and Notch coordinately regulate hepatic glucose metabolism. Combined haploinsufficiency of FoxO1 and Notch1 markedly raises insulin sensitivity in diet-induced insulin resistance, as does liver-specific knockout of the Notch transcriptional effector Rbp-Jκ. Conversely, Notch1 gain-of-function promotes insulin resistance in a FoxO1-dependent manner and induces glucose-6-phosphatase expression. Pharmacological blockade of Notch signaling with γ-secretase inhibitors raises insulin sensitivity after in vivo administration in lean mice and in obese, insulin-resistant mice. The data identify a heretofore unknown metabolic function of Notch and suggest that Notch inhibition is beneficial in diabetes treatment, in part by helping to offset excessive FoxO1-driven hepatic glucose production. AND Insulin regulates liver metabolism in vivo in the absence of hepatic Akt and Foxo1. Lu M, Wan M, Leavens KF, Chu Q, Monks BR, Fernandez S, Ahima RS, Ueki K, Kahn CR, Birnbaum MJ. Nat Med. February 19, 2012;18(3):388–95. Copyright (2012). Abstract reprinted by permission from McMillan Publishers Ltd. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22344295 Considerable data support the idea that forkhead box O1 (Foxo1) drives the liver transcriptional program during fasting and is then inhibited by thymoma viral proto-oncogene 1 (Akt) after feeding. Here we show that mice with hepatic deletion of Akt1 and Akt2 were glucose intolerant, insulin resistant and defective in their transcriptional response to feeding in the liver. These defects were normalized with concomitant liver-specific deletion of Foxo1. Notably, in the absence of both Akt and Foxo1, mice adapted appropriately to both the fasted and fed state, and insulin suppressed hepatic glucose production normally. A gene expression analysis revealed that deletion of Akt in liver led to the constitutive activation of Foxo1-dependent gene expression, but again, concomitant ablation of Foxo1 restored postprandial regulation, preventing the inhibition of the metabolic response to nutrient intake caused by deletion of Akt. These results are inconsistent with the canonical model of hepatic metabolism in which Akt is an obligate intermediate for proper insulin signaling. Rather, they show that a major role of hepatic Akt is to restrain the activity of Foxo1 and that in the absence of Foxo1, Akt is largely dispensable for insulin- and nutrient-mediated hepatic metabolic regulation in vivo.