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Glucose and lipid metabolism disorders and chronic inflammation in the kidney tissues are largely responsible for causative pathological mechanism of renal fibrosis in diabetic nephropathy (DN). As our previous findings confirmed that, sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P)/sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 2 (S1P2) signaling activation promoted renal fibrosis in diabetes. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the G protein-coupled bile acid receptor TGR5 exhibits effective regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism and anti-inflammatory effects. TGR5 is highly expressed in kidney tissues, whether it attenuates the inflammation and renal fibrosis by inhibiting the S1P/S1P2 signaling pathway would be a new insight into the molecular mechanism of DN. Here we investigated the effects of TGR5 on diabetic renal fibrosis, and the underlying mechanism would be also discussed. We found that TGR5 activation significantly decreased the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1), as well as fibronectin (FN) induced by high glucose in glomerular mesangial cells (GMCs), which were pathological features of DN. S1P2 overexpression induced by high glucose was diminished after activation of TGR5, and AP-1 activity, including the phosphorylation of c-Jun/c-Fos and AP-1 transcription activity, was attenuated. As a G protein-coupled receptor, S1P2 interacted with TGR5 in GMCs. Furthermore, INT-777 lowered S1P2 expression and promoted S1P2 internalization. Taken together, TGR5 activation reduced ICAM-1, TGF-β1 and FN expressions induced by high glucose in GMCs, the mechanism might be through suppressing S1P/S1P2 signaling, thus ameliorating diabetic nephropathy., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Berberine (BBR) exerts powerful renoprotective effects on diabetic nephropathy (DN), but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We previously demonstrated that activation of the G protein-coupled bile acid receptor TGR5 ameliorates diabetic nephropathy by inhibiting the activation of the sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P)/sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 2 (S1P2) signaling pathway. In this study, we explored the role of TGR5 in the BBR-induced downregulation of sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 2 (S1P2)/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-mediated fibrosis in glomerular mesangial cells (GMCs). Results showed that, BBR suppressed the expression of FN, ICAM-1, and TGF-β1 in high-glucose cultures of GMCs, and the phosphorylation level of c-Jun/c-Fos was downregulated. The high glucose lowered TGR5 expression in a time-dependent manner; this effect was reversed by BBR in a dose-dependent manner. The TGR5 agonist INT-777 decreased the high glucose-induced FN, ICAM-1, and TGF-β1 protein contents. In addition, TGR5 siRNA blocked S1P2 degradation by BBR. And MAPK signaling, which plays important regulatory roles in the pathological progression of DN, was activated by TGR5 siRNA. Apart from this, MAPK signaling as well as FN, ICAM-1, and TGF-β1 suppressed by BBR under high glucose conditions were limited by TGR5 depletion. Thus, BBR decreases FN, ICAM-1, and TGF-β1 levels under high glucose conditions in GMCs possibly by activating TGR5 and inhibiting S1P2/MAPK signaling., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Recently, the effect of polydatin on lipid regulation has gained considerable attention. And previous study has demonstrated that polydatin has hypoglycemic effect on experimental diabetic rats. Repressed Akt pathway contributes to glucose and lipid disorders in diabetes. Thus, whether polydatin regulates glucose and lipid metabolism in experimental diabetic models through the Akt pathway arouses interest. The purpose was to explore the regulatory mechanism of polydain on glucose and lipid through Akt pathway. We used a diabetic rat model induced by high-fat and -sugar diet with low-dose of streptozocin and an insulin resistant HepG2 cell model induced by palmitic acid to clarify the role of polydatin on glucose and lipid metabolism. Here, we found that polydatin significantly attenuated fasting blood–glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, glycosylated serum protein, total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in diabetic rats. Furthermore, polydatin significantly increased glucose uptake and consumption and decreased lipid accumulation in insulin resistant HepG2 cells. Polydatin markedly increased serum insulin levels in diabetic rats, and obviously activated the Akt signaling pathway in diabetic rat livers and insulin resistant HepG2 cells. Polydatin markedly increased phosphorylated GSK-3β, decreased the protein levels of G6Pase and SREBP-1c, and increased protein levels of GCK, LDLR, and phosphorylated IRS in livers and HepG2 cells. Overall, the results indicate that polydatin regulates glucose and lipid metabolism in experimental diabetic models, the underlying mechanism is probably associated with regulating the Akt pathway. The effect of polydatin on increased Akt phosphorylation is independent of prompting insulin secretion, but dependent of increasing IRS phosphorylation.

RhoA/Rho kinase (ROCK) signaling has been suggested to be involved in diabetic nephropathy (DN) pathogenesis. Altered expression of connexin43 (Cx43) has been found in kidneys of diabetic animals. Both of them have been found to regulate nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) activation in high glucose-treated glomerular mesangial cells (GMCs). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between RhoA/ROCK signaling and Cx43 in the DN pathogenesis. We found that upregulation of Cx43 expression inhibited NF-κB p65 nuclear translocation induced by RhoA/ROCK signaling in GMCs. Inhibition of RhoA/ROCK signaling attenuated the high glucose-induced decrease in Cx43. F-actin accumulation and an enhanced interaction between zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and Cx43 were observed in high glucose-treated GMCs. ZO-1 depletion or disruption of F-actin formation also inhibited the reduction in Cx43 protein levels induced by high glucose. In conclusion, activated RhoA/ROCK signaling induces Cx43 degradation in GMCs cultured in high glucose, depending on F-actin regulation. Increased F-actin induced by RhoA/ROCK signaling promotes the association between ZO-1 and Cx43, which possibly triggered Cx43 endocytosis, a mechanism of NF-κB activation in high glucose-treated GMCs., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Berberine has been shown to have renoprotective effects on diabetes through attenuating TGF-β1 and fibronectin (FN) expression. However, how berberine regulates TGF-β1 and FN is not fully clear. Here we investigated whether berberine inhibited TGF-β1 and FN expression in high glucose-cultured mesangial cells. Berberine significantly inhibited mesangial cell proliferation and hypertrophy by increasing the cell population in G1-phase and reducing that in S-phase. In addition, berberine reversed high glucose-induced down-regulation of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21(Waf1)/(Cip1) and p27(Kip1). Berberine inhibited p65 translocation to the nucleus and c-jun phosphorylation induced by high glucose. Furthermore, berberine attenuated high glucose-induced expression of TGF-β1 and FN. Using a luciferase reporter assay, we found that high glucose-induced transcription activity of NF-κB and AP-1 was blocked by berberine. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay showed that high glucose increased that NF-κB and AP-1 DNA binding activity. These data indicate that berberine inhibited mesangial cell proliferation and hypertrophy by modulating cell cycle progress. In addition, berberine suppressed high glucose-induced TGF-β1 and FN expression by blocking NF-κB/AP-1 pathways., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Our previous studies have confirmed that the sphingosine kinase 1 (SphK1)-sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) signaling pathway in the kidney under diabetic conditions is closely correlated with the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN). The activation of SphK1-S1P pathway by high glucose (HG) can increase the expression of fibronectin (FN), an important fibrotic component, in glomerular mesangial cells (GMCs) by promoting the DNA-binding activity of transcription factor AP-1. However, the mechanism responsible for the sustained activation of SphK1-S1P pathway remains unclear. Given the binding motifs for AP-1 within the first intron of the SphK1 gene, we speculated that the activated AP-1 in the kidney under HG condition possibly regulates SphK1 expression in a positive feedback manner, thereby promoting the sustained activation of SphK1-S1P pathway and mediating the pathological progression of DN. Here, we observed the effect of AP-1 on SphK1 expression in GMCs and explored the molecular mechanism involved in the sustained activation of SphK1-S1P pathway. We found two consensus binding motifs for AP-1 in the promoter sequences and non-coding region downstream of the transcriptional initiation of the rat SphK1 gene by chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. The treatment of GMCs with both HG and S1P significantly increased the protein expression of c-Jun and c-Fos, and obviously enhanced the phosphorylation of c-Jun at Ser63 and Ser73, and c-Fos at Ser32. Knockdown of c-Jun and c-Fos with siRNAs substantially inhibited the expression of SphK1 and FN, whereas overexpression of c-Jun and c-Fos significantly increased the expression of SphK1 and FN. Curcumin treatment greatly decreased the levels of c-Jun, c-Fos, SphK1, and FN in the kidney tissues of diabetic rats. SiRNAs targeting SphK1 and S1P2 receptor respectively inhibited the phosphorylation of c-Jun (ser63 and ser73) and c-Fos (ser32), as well as FN expression under both normal and HG conditions. Our data demonstrated that the activated SphK1-S1P signaling pathway in GMCs under diabetic conditions is closely associated with AP-1 to form a positive feedback loop. This positive feedback loop functions as an important molecular basis for the sustained activation of SphK1-S1P pathway and increased FN expression that lead to the initiation and progression of DN., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)