GH inhibition of lipogenesis and stimulation of lipolysis in sheep adipose tissue: involvement of protein serine phosphorylation and dephosphorylation and phospholipase C.

The intracellular signalling systems involved in the chronic insulin-antagonistic, anti-lipogenic effects and also the lipolytic effect of GH have been investigated in sheep adipose tissue in an in vitro tissue culture system. During culture, chronic exposure to GH decreased the rate of lipogenesis and prevented the increase in lipogenesis induced by insulin. GH also increased glycerol release into the culture medium. GH had no acute, insulin-like effect on lipogenesis in sheep adipose tissue. Pretreatment with phorbol ester to down-regulate isoforms of protein kinase C or addition of the protein serine kinase inhibitor staurosporine decreased the anti-lipogenic effect of GH while the protein serine kinase inhibitor H7 eliminated it completely. Pretreatment with phorbol ester or addition of H7 also decreased the insulin-antagonistic effect of GH on lipogenesis. Addition of the protein serine phosphatase inhibitor okadaic acid or the phosphatidyl choline phospholipase C inhibitor D609 both diminished the anti-lipogenic and insulin-antagonistic effects of GH. Chronic exposure of adipose tissue to GH had no effect on the total activity of acetyl CoA carboxylase or its activation status but it did diminish the increase in activation status induced by insulin. H7 and okadaic acid also diminished the increase in activation status of acetyl CoA carboxylase induced by insulin but did not alter the effect of GH on this variable. Okadaic acid decreased total acetyl CoA carboxylase activity. Pretreatment with phorbol ester or the addition of H7, staurosporine or okadaic acid increased glycerol release into the culture medium to the same extent as GH itself; the effects of GH and these various agents were not additive. These studies suggest that the anti-lipogenic, insulin-antagonistic effects of GH involve both protein serine kinases and phosphatases, possibly including one or more isoforms of protein kinase C, and a phosphatidyl choline-specific phospholipase C. Comparison with studies by others on the GH enhancement of preadipocyte differentiation and prolactin stimulation of lipogenesis in mammary tissue suggests involvement of protein kinase C at an early stage in all three systems. In contrast, effects of okadaic acid vary with the system, suggesting the involvement of protein serine phosphatase activity in a late stage of the action of GH. The effects of GH on lipogenesis and lipolysis do not occur via identical mechanisms.