Glucose stimulates IGF-I gene expression in C6 glioma cells.

Glucose stimulates expression of the insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) gene in cultured C6 glioma cells. This stimulation is specific, as the expression of other genes, including those encoding hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT) and ubiquitin, is not similarly affected by glucose. IGF-I gene expression is also stimulated by lactate, suggesting that the stimulatory effect is mediated by a product of glycolysis. Additional results indicate that the abundance of IGF-I mRNA is considerably higher in stationary confluent cells than in log-phase growing cells. This regulation is also specific for IGF-I, as HPRT mRNA is regulated in the opposite direction.