Unimpaired effect of insulin on glucokinase gene expression in hepatocytes challenged with amylin.

Amylin appears to interfere with the action of insulin in muscle and possibly in liver. We have attempted to detect a direct antagonism between amylin and insulin in cultured rat hepatocytes. The stimulation of glucokinase gene expression was used as a marker of insulin action. Amylin proved ineffective in suppressing subsequent accumulation of glucokinase mRNA in response to maximal or submaximal doses of insulin. When applied to cells already induced by prior incubation with insulin alone, amylin failed to reverse induction, in contrast to the effectiveness of glucagon under the same conditions. Thus, amylin is not a physiological antagonist of insulin in the control of hepatic glucokinase gene expression.