Biomaterial Database

The Gs alpha/Gi alpha 2 axis controls adipogenesis independently of adenylylcyclase. 1996

H Y Wang, and C C Malbon

Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University Medical Center, SUNY/Stony Brook 11794, USA

Adipogenesis is the commitment of embryonic stem cells to the highly -differentiated phenotype of the adipocyte, a cell specialized to regulate, in a dynamic fashion, lipid storage. The mouse embryonic 3T3-L1 fibroblasts provide a useful model in which to probe the control differentiation in general and adipogenesis in particular. The G-proteins Gs alpha and Gi alpha 2 have been shown to modulate commitment of fibroblasts to adipocytes in response to inducers such as dexamethasone and meythylisobutylxanthine. Cellular levels of Gs alpha decline sharply in response to inducers as cells commit to the adipogenic phenotype. The molecular strategies of antisense DNA technology and expression of constitutively-activated mutants of Gi alpha 2 reveal that either suppression of Gs alpha or expression of constitutively-active Gi alpha 2 dramatically accelerate the ability of inducers to stimulate adipogenesis or act as inducers themselves. These roles of Gs alpha and Gi alpha 2 are expressed in ambient or elevated intracellular cyclic AMP, demonstrating a critical role of G-proteins in cellular differentiation independent of adenylylcyclase.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D002454	Cell Differentiation	Progressive restriction of the developmental potential and increasing specialization of function that leads to the formation of specialized cells, tissues, and organs.	Differentiation, Cell,Cell Differentiations,Differentiations, Cell
D002455	Cell Division	The fission of a CELL. It includes CYTOKINESIS, when the CYTOPLASM of a cell is divided, and CELL NUCLEUS DIVISION.	M Phase,Cell Division Phase,Cell Divisions,Division Phase, Cell,Division, Cell,Divisions, Cell,M Phases,Phase, Cell Division,Phase, M,Phases, M
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000262	Adenylyl Cyclases	Enzymes of the lyase class that catalyze the formation of CYCLIC AMP and pyrophosphate from ATP.	Adenyl Cyclase,Adenylate Cyclase,3',5'-cyclic AMP Synthetase,Adenylyl Cyclase,3',5' cyclic AMP Synthetase,AMP Synthetase, 3',5'-cyclic,Cyclase, Adenyl,Cyclase, Adenylate,Cyclase, Adenylyl,Cyclases, Adenylyl,Synthetase, 3',5'-cyclic AMP
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D016475	3T3 Cells	Cell lines whose original growing procedure consisted being transferred (T) every 3 days and plated at 300,000 cells per plate (J Cell Biol 17:299-313, 1963). Lines have been developed using several different strains of mice. Tissues are usually fibroblasts derived from mouse embryos but other types and sources have been developed as well. The 3T3 lines are valuable in vitro host systems for oncogenic virus transformation studies, since 3T3 cells possess a high sensitivity to CONTACT INHIBITION.	3T3 Cell,Cell, 3T3,Cells, 3T3
D017667	Adipocytes	Cells in the body that store FATS, usually in the form of TRIGLYCERIDES. WHITE ADIPOCYTES are the predominant type and found mostly in the abdominal cavity and subcutaneous tissue. BROWN ADIPOCYTES are thermogenic cells that can be found in newborns of some species and hibernating mammals.	Fat Cells,Lipocytes,Adipocyte,Cell, Fat,Cells, Fat,Fat Cell,Lipocyte
D051379	Mice	The common name for the genus Mus.	Mice, House,Mus,Mus musculus,Mice, Laboratory,Mouse,Mouse, House,Mouse, Laboratory,Mouse, Swiss,Mus domesticus,Mus musculus domesticus,Swiss Mice,House Mice,House Mouse,Laboratory Mice,Laboratory Mouse,Mice, Swiss,Swiss Mouse,domesticus, Mus musculus
D019204	GTP-Binding Proteins	Regulatory proteins that act as molecular switches. They control a wide range of biological processes including: receptor signaling, intracellular signal transduction pathways, and protein synthesis. Their activity is regulated by factors that control their ability to bind to and hydrolyze GTP to GDP. EC 3.6.1.-.	G-Proteins,GTP-Regulatory Proteins,Guanine Nucleotide Regulatory Proteins,G-Protein,GTP-Binding Protein,GTP-Regulatory Protein,Guanine Nucleotide Coupling Protein,G Protein,G Proteins,GTP Binding Protein,GTP Binding Proteins,GTP Regulatory Protein,GTP Regulatory Proteins,Protein, GTP-Binding,Protein, GTP-Regulatory,Proteins, GTP-Binding,Proteins, GTP-Regulatory