In vitro characterization of the effects of chronic insulin stimulation in mouse 3T3-L1 and human SGBS adipocytes

ABSTRACT

Hyperinsulinemia is the hallmark of the development of insulin resistance and precedes the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. Here we evaluated the effects of prolonged exposure (≥4 days) to high insulin doses (150 nM) in vitro in two adipose cell types, mouse 3T3-L1 and human SGBS. Chronic insulin treatment significantly decreased lipid droplet size, insulin signalling and insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. 3T3-L1 displayed an increased basal glucose internalization following chronic insulin treatment, which was associated with increased GLUT1 expression. In addition, both cells showed increased basal lipolysis.

In conclusion, we report the effects of prolonged hyperinsulinemia in 3T3-L1 and SGBS, highlighting similarities and discrepancies between the cell types, to be considered when using these cells to model insulin-induced insulin resistance.

KEYWORDS:

• hyperinsulinemia
• 3T3-L1
• SGBS
• glucose uptake
• lipolysis

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank AstraZeneca Core Tissue Culture for the expansion, quality control and banking of 3T3-L1 and SGBS pre-adipocytes and Joss Field for his help in differentiating the cells to adipocytes.

Disclosure statement

A.R., J.D., G.D., B.M., C.C., D.C.H. are current employees of AstraZeneca.

M.E. current affiliation is: Division of Redox Regulation, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.