Delayed autoregulation of glucose transport in vascular endothelial cells

E. Alpert, A. Gruzman, Y. Riahi, R. Blejter, P. Aharoni, G. Weisinger, J. Eckel, N. Kaiser, S. Sasson*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

Aims/hypothesis: We aimed to characterise the development of autoregulation of glucose transport in vascular endothelial cells and its relationship to 12-lipoxygenase (12-LO) expression. Methods: Bovine aortic endothelial cells were exposed to 5.5 and 23.0 mmol/l glucose for up to 48 h. The rates of glucose transport, GLUT-1 and 12-LO expression and of 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12-HETE) production were determined. Results: We showed high glucose-dependent downregulation of glucose transport and transporter in vascular endothelial cells within 36-48 h. A similar time-dependent increase in the expression of 12-LO and the generation of its product 12-HETE was also observed. This downregulatory process was prevented when lipoxygenase activity was inhibited. Conclusions/interpretation: Vascular endothelial cells, which were previously thought to be "glucose-blind", do in fact downregulate GLUT-1 expression and the rate of glucose transport in response to extended exposure to high glucose concentrations. This slow development of glucose-induced downregulation in vascular endothelial cells is related to the slower basal rate of glucose transport in these cells and the slow induction of 12-LO. These data are interesting in view of current hypotheses that attribute vascular endothelial cell dysfunction in diabetes to the lack of a glucose-induced autoregulatory response.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)752-755
Number of pages4
JournalDiabetologia
Volume48
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2005

Keywords

  • Endothelial cells
  • Glucose transport
  • Glucose transporter
  • Hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids
  • Lipoxygenase
  • Lipoxygenase inhibitors
  • Vascular smooth muscle

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