Takashi Asada (1), Toshikazu Ogawa (2), Michio Iwai (3) and Masakazu
Kobayashi (4)
(1) Molecular Biological Research Laboratories and (2) Pharmacological
Research Laboratories, Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Osaka 532-8514,
Japan
(3) Department of Chemistry, Marine Technical College, Ashiya 659-0026,
Japan
(4) Fujisawa Research Institute of America, Inc., Northwestern University,
Evanston, IL 60201-3135, USA
Abstract: We investigated the effect of recombinant insulin-like
growth factor-I (rhIGF-I) on the expression of glucose transporters, GLUT
2 in the liver and GLUT 4 in the heart, in streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic
rats by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and
immunohistochemistry. GLUT 2 and its mRNA in the liver was elevated, whereas
GLUT 4 and its mRNA in the heart were decreased in STZ-diabetic rats. A
two-week treatment with rhIGF-I mostly restored the expression of GLUT 2
and GLUT 4 to normal rat level. We demonstrated that the effect of IGF-I
on the expressions of GLUTs was almost the same as that of insulin.
Keywords: Glucose transporter, Reverse transcription-polymerase chain
reaction (RT-PCR), Immunohistochemistry