Project description:Liver zonation characterizes the separation of metabolic pathways along the lobules and is required for optimal function. Wnt/beta-catenin signaling controls metabolic zonation by activating genes in the perivenous hepatocytes, while suppressing genes in the periportal counterparts. We now demonstrate that glucagon opposes the actions of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling on gene expression and metabolic zonation pattern. The effects were more pronounced in the periportal hepatocytes where 28% of all genes were activated by glucagon and inhibited by Wnt/beta-catenin. The glucagon and Wnt/beta-catenin receptors and their signaling pathways are uniformly distributed in periportal and perivenous hepatocytes and the expression is not regulated by the opposing signal. Collectively, our results show that glucagon controls gene expression and metabolic zonation in the liver through a counter play with the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway.
Project description:Liver zonation characterizes the separation of metabolic pathways along the lobules and is required for optimal function. Wnt/beta-catenin signaling controls metabolic zonation by activating genes in the perivenous hepatocytes, while suppressing genes in the periportal counterparts. We now demonstrate that glucagon opposes the actions of Wnt/beta-catenin signaling on gene expression and metabolic zonation pattern. The effects were more pronounced in the periportal hepatocytes where 28% of all genes were activated by glucagon and inhibited by Wnt/beta-catenin. The glucagon and Wnt/beta-catenin receptors and their signaling pathways are uniformly distributed in periportal and perivenous hepatocytes and the expression is not regulated by the opposing signal. Collectively, our results show that glucagon controls gene expression and metabolic zonation in the liver through a counter play with the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway.
Project description:21 samples of liver RNA coming from mice treated with glucagon (Gluc), thyroid hormone (T3), both, or the conjugated compound (Cp). Each sample comes from a single mice.
Project description:Glucagon receptor deficient liver during postnatal development: fig S5a-S5c in Solloway et al. livers from ko and wt GCGR mice at various developmental stages
Project description:The metabolic functions of the liver are organized spatially in a phenomenon known as zonation. This spatial organization of metabolic functions is linked to the differential exposure of central and portal hepatocytes to either systemic circulation or nutrient-rich blood afferent from the gastrointestinal tract, respectively. The mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) is the central hub of a critical signaling pathway that links cellular metabolism to fluctuations in the levels of nutrients and insulin. To understand how these two signaling cues are integrated in the liver, we have generated mice with constitutive nutrient and insulin signaling to mTORC1 in hepatocytes (RragaGTP/fl; Tsc1fl/fl; Albumin-CreTg mice). Simultaneous activation of nutrient and hormone signaling to mTORC1 results in impaired establishment of the metabolic zonal identity of hepatocytes, a maturation process that takes place within the first weeks after birth. Mechanistically, a decrease in levels of the morphogenic pathway Wnt/β-catenin in hepatocytes and reduced expression of the Wnt2 ligand by liver endothelial cells after birth underlie this impaired wave of hepatocyte maturation. Lack of postnatal establishment of metabolic zonation of the liver is recapitulated in a model of constant supply of nutrients by total parenteral nutrition to neonatal pigs. Collectively, our work shows the critical role of hepatocyte sensing of fluctuations in nutrients and hormones after birth for triggering the latent metabolic zonation program.