Metformin and phenformin activate AMP-activated protein kinase in the heart by increasing cytosolic AMP concentration.
AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) acts as a cellular energy sensor: it responds to an increase in AMP concentration ([AMP]) or the AMP-to-ATP ratio (AMP/ATP). Metformin and phenformin, which are biguanides, have been reported to increase AMPK activity without increasing AMP/ATP. This study tests the hypothesis that these biguanides increase AMPK activity in the heart by increasing cytosolic [AMP]. Groups of isolated rat hearts (n = 5-7 each) were perfused with Krebs-Henseleit buffer with or without 0.2 mM phenformin or 10 mM metformin, and (31)P-NMR-measured phosphocreatine, ATP, and intracellular pH were used to calculate cytosolic [AMP]. At various times, hearts were freeze-clamped and assayed for AMPK activity, phosphorylation of Thr(172) on AMPK-alpha, and phosphorylation of Ser(79) on acetyl-CoA carboxylase, an AMPK target. In hearts treated with phenformin for 18 min and then perfused for 20 min with Krebs-Henseleit buffer, [AMP] began to increase at 26 min and AMPK activity was elevated at 36 min. In hearts treated with metformin, [AMP] was increased at 50 min and AMPK activity, phosphorylated AMPK, and phosphorylated acetyl-CoA carboxylase were elevated at 61 min. In metformin-treated hearts, HPLC-measured total AMP content and total AMP/ATP did not increase. In summary, phenformin and metformin increase AMPK activity and phosphorylation in the isolated heart. The increase in AMPK activity was always preceded by and correlated with increased cytosolic [AMP]. Total AMP content and total AMP/ATP did not change. Cytosolic [AMP] reported metabolically active AMP, which triggered increased AMPK activity, but measures of total AMP did not.
T10 T11 T12 T13 T14 T15 T16 T17 T18 T19 T1 T20 T21 T22 T23 T24 T25 T26 T27 T28 T29 T2 T30 T31 T32 T33 T34 T35 T36 T37 T38 T39 T3 T40 T41 T42 T43 T44 T45 T46 T47 T48 T49 T4 T50 T51 T52 T53 T54 T55 T56 T57 T58 T59 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9
CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL GENE-N GENE-N GENE-N GENE-N GENE-N GENE-N CHEMICAL GENE-N GENE-N GENE-N GENE-N GENE-N GENE-N GENE-N GENE-N GENE-N GENE-N CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL CHEMICAL
ATP phenformin metformin AMP ATP AMP AMP AMP AMP ATP AMP ATP AMP AMP Metformin AMP phenformin biguanides AMP ATP biguanides AMP AMP phenformin metformin (31)P phosphocreatine ATP AMP acetyl-CoA phenformin AMP metformin Metformin AMP phenformin AMP AMP-activated protein kinase AMPK AMPK phosphorylated acetyl-CoA carboxylase AMPK AMPK AMP AMPK AMPK AMPK AMPK AMPK AMPK-alpha acetyl-CoA carboxylase AMPK AMPK AMP-activated protein kinase acetyl-CoA metformin AMP AMP AMP