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c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase (JNK) plays an important role in insulin resistance; however, identification of pharmacologically potent and selective small molecule JNK inhibitors has been limited. Compound A has a cell IC(50) of 102 nM and is at least 100-fold selective against related kinases and 27-fold selective against glycogen synthase kinase-3beta and cyclin-dependent kinase-2. In C57BL/6 mice, compound A reduced LPS-mediated increases in both plasma cytokine levels and phosphorylated c-Jun in adipose tissue. Treatment of mice fed a high-fat diet with compound A for 3 wk resulted in a 13.1 +/- 1% decrease in body weight and a 9.3 +/- 1.5% decrease in body fat, compared with a 6.6 +/- 2.1% increase in body weight and a 6.7 +/- 2.1% increase in body fat in vehicle-treated mice. Mice pair fed to those that received compound A exhibited a body weight decrease of 7 +/- 1% and a decrease in body fat of 1.6 +/- 1.3%, suggesting that reductions in food intake could not account solely for the reductions in adiposity observed. Compound A dosed at 30 mg/kg for 13 days in high-fat fed mice resulted in a significant decrease in phosphorylated c-Jun in adipose tissue accompanied by a decrease in weight and reductions in glucose and triglycerides and increases in insulin sensitivity to levels comparable with those in lean control mice. The ability of compound A to reduce the insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) von Ser307 and partially reverse the free fatty acid inhibition of glucose uptake in 3T3L1 adipocytes, suggests that enhancement of insulin signaling in addition to weight loss may contribute to the effects of compound A on insulin sensitization in vivo. Pharmacological inhibition of JNK using compound A may therefore offer an effective therapy for type 2 diabetes mediated at least in part via weight reduction.

We determined if heat stress induction of heat shock protein (HSP) 70 modulates complement activation in an experimental model of xenograft rejection. Male New Zealand White rabbits were heat stressed (core body temperature to 42 degrees C for 15 min; n = 9). Control rabbits (n = 13) were not exposed to heat stress. Hearts were removed 18 h later and perfused by the Langendorff method. After equilibration, human plasma (source of human complement) was added to the perfusion medium. Hemodynamic variables recorded during perfusion with human plasma were improved in hearts from heat-stressed animals compared with control hearts. Assembly of the soluble membrane attack complex was reduced in the interstitial fluid effluent from the heat-stressed hearts. Electron microscopic evidence of ultrastructural changes was attenuated in the hearts from heat-stressed rabbits. Myocardial tissue from heat-stressed animals exhibited an increase in inducible HSP 70 that was virtually absent in the hearts of control rabbits. Previous whole body hyperthermia protects the rabbit heart against the detrimental effects of heterologous plasma, suggesting that heat-stress induction of HSP 70 limits the extent of complement activation by a discordant vascularized tissue (xenograft). Induction of heat stress proteins by the donor organ might be an important mechanism affecting the outcome of xenograft transplants.