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Adropin Stimulates Proliferation and Inhibits Adrenocortical Steroidogenesis in the Human Adrenal Carcinoma (HAC15) Cell Line

Authors :
Ewelina Stelcer
Paulina Milecka
Hanna Komarowska
Karol Jopek
Marianna Tyczewska
Marta Szyszka
Marta Lesniczak
Wiktoria Suchorska
Karlygash Bekova
Beata Szczepaniak
Marek Ruchala
Marek Karczewski
Tomasz Wierzbicki
Witold Szaflarski
Ludwik K. Malendowicz
Marcin Rucinski
Source :
Frontiers in Endocrinology, Vol 11 (2020)
Publication Year :
2020
Publisher :
Frontiers Media S.A., 2020.

Abstract

Adropin is a multifunctional peptide hormone encoded by the ENHO (energy homeostasis associated) gene. It plays a role in mechanisms related to increased adiposity, insulin resistance, as well as glucose, and lipid metabolism. The low adropin levels are strongly associated with obesity independent insulin resistance. On the other hand, overexpression or exogenous administration of adropin improves glucose homeostasis. The multidirectional, adropin-related effects associated with the regulation of metabolism in humans also appear to be attributable to the effects of this peptide on the activity of various elements of the endocrine system including adrenal cortex. Therefore, the main purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of adropin on proliferation and secretory activity in the human HAC15 adrenal carcinoma cell line. In this study, we obtained several highly interesting findings. First, GPR19, the main candidate sensitizer of adrenocortical cells to adropin, was expressed in HAC15 cells. Moreover, GPR19 expression was relatively stable and not regulated by ACTH, forskolin, or adropin itself. Our findings also suggest that adropin has the capacity to decrease expression levels of steroidogenic genes such as steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) and CYP11A1, which then led to a statistically significant inhibition in cortisol and aldosterone biosynthesis and secretion. Based on whole transcriptome study and research involving transforming growth factor (TGF)-β type I receptor kinase inhibitor we demonstrated that attenuation of steroidogenesis caused by adropin is mediated by the TGF-β signaling pathway likely to act through transactivation mechanism. We found that HAC15 cells treated with adropin presented significantly higher proliferation levels than untreated cells. Using specific intracellular inhibitors, we showed that adropin stimulate proliferation via ERK1/2 and AKT dependent signaling pathways. We have also demonstrated that expression of GPR19 is elevated in adrenocortical carcinoma in relation to normal adrenal glands. High level of GPR19 expression in adrenocortical carcinoma may constitute a negative prognostic factor of disease progression.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
16642392
Volume :
11
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Frontiers in Endocrinology
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.51aa1f758646089bf1c9a69b095e18
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2020.561370