Autoradiographic analysis of the regional distribution of Glut3 glucose transporters in the rat brain

Importance of GLUT Transporters in Disease Diagnosis and Treatment

Facilitative sugar transporters (GLUTs) are the primary method of sugar uptake in all mammalian cells. There are 14 different types of those transmembrane proteins, but they transport only a handful of substrates, mainly glucose and fructose. This overlap and redundancy contradict the natural tendency of cells to conserve energy and resources, and has led researchers to hypothesize that different GLUTs partake in more metabolic roles than just sugar transport into cells. Understanding those roles will lead to better therapeutics for a wide variety of diseases and disorders. In this review we highlight recent discoveries of the role GLUTs play in different diseases and disease treatments.

Glucose transporter 3 in neuronal glucose metabolism: Health and diseases

Neurons obtain glucose from extracellular environment for energy production mainly depending on glucose transporter 3 (GLUT3). GLUT3 uptakes glucose with high affinity and great transport capacity, and is important for neuronal energy metabolism. This review summarized the role of neuronal GLUT3 in brain metabolism, function and development under both physiological conditions and in diseases, aiming to provide insights into neuronal glucose metabolism and its effect on brain. GLUT3 stabilizes neuronal glucose uptake and utilization, influences brain development and function, and ameliorates aging-related manifestations. Neuronal GLUT3 is regulated by synaptic activity, hormones, nutrition, insulin and insulin-like growth factor 1 in physiological conditions, and is also upregulated by hypoxia-ischemia. GLUT3-related neuronal glucose and energy metabolism is possibly involved in the pathogenesis, pathophysiological mechanism, progression or prognosis of brain diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and epilepsy. GLUT3 may be a promising therapeutic target of these diseases. This review also briefly discussed the role of other glucose transporters in neuronal glucose metabolism, which work together with GLUT3 to sustain and stabilize glucose and energy supply for neurons. Deficiency in these glucose transporters may also participate in brain diseases, especially GLUT1 and GLUT4.

Endogenous α-calcitonin-gene-related peptide promotes exercise-induced, physiological heart hypertrophy in mice

AIM

It is unknown how the heart distinguishes various overloads, such as exercise or hypertension, causing either physiological or pathological hypertrophy. We hypothesize that alpha-calcitonin-gene-related peptide (αCGRP), known to be released from contracting skeletal muscles, is key at this remodelling.

METHODS

The hypertrophic effect of αCGRP was measured in vitro (cultured cardiac myocytes) and in vivo (magnetic resonance imaging) in mice. Exercise performance was assessed by determination of maximum oxygen consumption and time to exhaustion. Cardiac phenotype was defined by transcriptional analysis, cardiac histology and morphometry. Finally, we measured spontaneous activity, body fat content, blood volume, haemoglobin mass and skeletal muscle capillarization and fibre composition.

RESULTS

While αCGRP exposure yielded larger cultured cardiac myocytes, exercise-induced heart hypertrophy was completely abrogated by treatment with the peptide antagonist CGRP(8-37). Exercise performance was attenuated in αCGRP(-/-) mice or CGRP(8-37) treated wild-type mice but improved in animals with higher density of cardiac CGRP receptors (CLR-tg). Spontaneous activity, body fat content, blood volume, haemoglobin mass, muscle capillarization and fibre composition were unaffected, whereas heart index and ventricular myocyte volume were reduced in αCGRP(-/-) mice and elevated in CLR-tg. Transcriptional changes seen in αCGRP(-/-) (but not CLR-tg) hearts resembled maladaptive cardiac phenotype.

CONCLUSIONS

Alpha-calcitonin-gene-related peptide released by skeletal muscles during exercise is a hitherto unrecognized effector directing the strained heart into physiological instead of pathological adaptation. Thus, αCGRP agonists might be beneficial in heart failure patients.

CREB regulates the expression of neuronal glucose transporter 3: a possible mechanism related to impaired brain glucose uptake in Alzheimer's disease

Impaired brain glucose uptake and metabolism precede the appearance of clinical symptoms in Alzheimer disease (AD). Neuronal glucose transporter 3 (GLUT3) is decreased in AD brain and correlates with tau pathology. However, what leads to the decreased GLUT3 is yet unknown. In this study, we found that the promoter of human GLUT3 contains three potential cAMP response element (CRE)-like elements, CRE1, CRE2 and CRE3. Overexpression of CRE-binding protein (CREB) or activation of cAMP-dependent protein kinase significantly increased GLUT3 expression. CREB bound to the CREs and promoted luciferase expression driven by human GLUT3-promoter. Among the CREs, CRE2 and CRE3 were required for the promotion of GLUT3 expression. Full-length CREB was decreased and truncation of CREB was increased in AD brain. This truncation was correlated with calpain I activation in human brain. Further study demonstrated that calpain I proteolysed CREB at Gln₂₈–Ala₂₉ and generated a 41-kDa truncated CREB, which had less activity to promote GLUT3 expression. Importantly, human brain GLUT3 was correlated with full-length CREB positively and with activation of calpain I negatively. These findings suggest that overactivation of calpain I caused by calcium overload proteolyses CREB, resulting in a reduction of GLUT3 expression and consequently impairing glucose uptake and metabolism in AD brain.

Brain glucose transporter (Glut3) haploinsufficiency does not impair mouse brain glucose uptake

Mouse brain expresses three principal glucose transporters. Glut1 is an endothelial marker and is the principal glucose transporter of the blood-brain barrier. Glut3 and Glut6 are expressed in glial cells and neural cells. A mouse line with a null allele for Glut3 has been developed. The Glut3(-/-) genotype is intrauterine lethal by 7days post-coitis, but the heterozygous (Glut3(+/-)) littermate survives, exhibiting rapid post-natal weight gain, but no seizures or other behavioral aberrations. At 12weeks of age, brain uptake of tail vein-injected ((3))H-2-deoxy glucose in Glut3(+/-) mice was not different from Glut3(+/+) littermates, despite 50% less Glut3 protein expression in the brain. The brain uptake of injected ((18))F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy glucose was similarly not different from Glut3(+/-) littermates in the total amount, time course, or brain imaging in the Glut3(+/-) mice. Glut1 and Glut6 protein expressions evaluated by immunoblots were not affected by the diminished Glut3 expression in the Glut3(+/-) mice. We conclude that a 50% decrease in Glut3 is not limiting for the uptake of glucose into the mouse brain, since Glut3 haploinsufficiency does not impair brain glucose uptake or utilization.

Increased densities of monocarboxylate transport protein MCT1 after chronic administration of nicotine in rat brain

Chronic administration of nicotine is followed by a general stimulation of brain metabolism that results in a distinct increase of glucose transport protein densities for Glut1 and Glu3, and local cerebral glucose utilization (LCGU). This increase of LCGU might be paralleled by an enhanced production of lactate. Therefore, the question arose as to whether chronic nicotine infusion is accompanied by increased local densities of monocarboxylate transporter MCT1 in the brain. Secondly, we inquired whether LCGU might be correlated with local densities of MCT1 during normal conditions and after chronic nicotine infusion. Nicotine was given subcutaneously for 1 week by osmotic mini-pumps and local densities of MCT1 were measured by immunoautoradiographic methods in cryosections of rat brains. MCT1 density was significantly increased in 21 of 32 brain structures investigated (median increase 15.0+/-3.6%). Immunohistochemical stainings of these substructures revealed an over-expression of MCT1 within endothelial cells and astrocytes of treated animals. A comparison of 23 MCT1 densities with LCGU measured in the same structures in a previous study revealed a partial correlation between both parameters under control conditions and after chronic nicotine infusion. 10 out of 23 brain areas, which showed a significant increase of MCT1 density due to chronic nicotine infusion, also showed a significant increase of LCGU. In summary, our data show that chronic nicotine infusion induces a moderate increase of local and global density of MCT1 in defined brain structures. However, in terms of brain topologies and substructures this phenomenon did partially match with increased LCGU. It is concluded that MCT1 transporters were upregulated during chronic nicotine infusion at the level of brain substructures and, at least partially, independently of LCGU.

The facilitative glucose transporter GLUT3: 20 years of distinction

Glucose metabolism is vital to most mammalian cells, and the passage of glucose across cell membranes is facilitated by a family of integral membrane transporter proteins, the GLUTs. There are currently 14 members of the SLC2 family of GLUTs, several of which have been the focus of this series of reviews. The subject of the present review is GLUT3, which, as implied by its name, was the third glucose transporter to be cloned (Kayano T, Fukumoto H, Eddy RL, Fan YS, Byers MG, Shows TB, Bell GI. J Biol Chem 263: 15245-15248, 1988) and was originally designated as the neuronal GLUT. The overriding question that drove the early work on GLUT3 was why would neurons need a separate glucose transporter isoform? What is it about GLUT3 that specifically suits the needs of the highly metabolic and oxidative neuron with its high glucose demand? More recently, GLUT3 has been studied in other cell types with quite specific requirements for glucose, including sperm, preimplantation embryos, circulating white blood cells, and an array of carcinoma cell lines. The last are sufficiently varied and numerous to warrant a review of their own and will not be discussed here. However, for each of these cases, the same questions apply. Thus, the objective of this review is to discuss the properties and tissue and cellular localization of GLUT3 as well as the features of expression, function, and regulation that distinguish it from the rest of its family and make it uniquely suited as the mediator of glucose delivery to these specific cells.

Corticosterone impairs insulin-stimulated translocation of GLUT4 in the rat hippocampus

BACKGROUND

Exposure to stress levels of glucocorticoids produces physiological responses that are characteristic of type 2 diabetes, such as peripheral insulin resistance and impairment in insulin-stimulated trafficking of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) in muscle and fat. In the central nervous system, stress produces neuroanatomical and neurochemical changes in the hippocampus that are associated with cognitive impairments.

METHODS

In view of these observations, the current studies examined the effects of short-term (1 week) exposure of stress levels of glucocorticoids upon insulin receptor (IR) expression and signaling, including GLUT4 translocation, in the rat hippocampus.

RESULTS

One week of corticosterone (CORT) treatment produced insulin resistance in response to peripheral glucose challenge. In the hippocampus, IR expression was unchanged in CORT-treated rats as compared with vehicle-treated rats. However, insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of the IR, total Akt levels and total GLUT4 levels were reduced in CORT-treated rats when compared to controls. In addition, insulin-stimulated translocation of hippocampal GLUT4 to the plasma membrane was completely abolished in CORT-treated rats.

CONCLUSIONS

These results demonstrate that in addition to eliciting peripheral insulin resistance, short-term CORT administration impairs insulin signaling in the rat hippocampus, effects that may contribute to the deleterious consequences of hypercortisolemic/hyperglycemic states observed in type 2 diabetes.

Glucose transporter plasticity during memory processing

Various types of learning, including operant conditioning, induce an increase in cellular activation concomitant with an increase in local cerebral glucose utilization (LCGU). This increase is mediated by increased cerebral blood flow or changes in brain capillary density and diameter. Because glucose transporters are ultimately responsible for glucose uptake, we examined their plastic expression in response to cellular activation. In vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated that cerebral glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) expression consistently parallels changes in LCGU. The present study is the first to investigate the effect of memory processing on glucose transporters expression. Changes in GLUT expression produced by training in an operant conditioning task were measured in the brain of CD1 mice. Using semi-quantitative immunohistochemistry, Western blot and real time RT-PCR the cerebral GLUT1 and GLUT3 expression was quantified immediately, 220 min and 24 h following training. Relative to sham-trained and naive controls, operant conditioning training induced an immediate increase in GLUT1 immunoreactivity level in the hippocampus CA1 pyramidal cells as well as in the sensorimotor cortex. At longer post-learning delays, GLUT1 immunoreactivity decreased in the sensorimotor cortex and putamen. Parallel to the changes in protein levels, hippocampus GLUT1 mRNA level also increased immediately following learning. No effect of learning was found on hippocampal GLUT3 protein or mRNA expression. Measures of changes in glucose transporters expression present a link between cellular activation and glucose metabolism. The learning-induced localized increases in GLUT1 protein as well as mRNA levels observed in the present study confirm the previous findings that GLUT1 expression is plastic and respond to changes in cellular metabolic demands.

Glucose transporter expression in the central nervous system: relationship to synaptic function

The family of facilitative glucose transporter (GLUT) proteins is responsible for the entry of glucose into cells throughout the periphery and the brain. The expression, regulation and activity of GLUTs play an essential role in neuronal homeostasis, since glucose represents the primary energy source for the brain. Brain GLUTs exhibit both cell type and region specific localizations suggesting that the transport of glucose across the blood-brain barrier is tightly regulated and compartmentalized. As seen in the periphery, insulin-sensitive GLUTs are expressed in the brain and therefore may participate in the central actions of insulin. The aim of this review will be to discuss the localization of GLUTs expressed in the central nervous system (CNS), with a special emphasis upon the recently identified GLUT isoforms. In addition, we will discuss the regulation, activity and insulin-stimulated trafficking of GLUTs in the CNS, especially in relation to the centrally mediated actions of insulin and glucose.

New aspects in pathogenesis of konzo: neural cell damage directly caused by linamarin contained in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)

Epidemic spastic paraparesis (konzo) found in tropical and subtropical countries is known to be caused by long-term intake of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), which contains a cyanoglucoside linamarin (alpha-hydroxyisobutyronitrile-beta-d-glucopyranoside). It has been reported that linamarin is enzymatically converted to cyanide by bacteria in the intestine, and this is absorbed into the blood and then damages neural cells. However, unmetabolized linamarin was found in the urine after oral administration of cassava; thus, we hypothesized that konzo could be caused by direct toxicity of the unmetabolized linamarin that was transferred to the brain and could be transported into neural cells via a glucose transporter. In the present study it was confirmed that linamarin directly damaged neural culture pheochromocytoma cell (PC) 12 cells; 0.10 mm-linamarin caused cell death at 13.31 (SD 2.07) %, which was significantly different from that of control group (3.18 (SD 0.92) %, P=0.0004). Additional 10 microM-cytochalasin B, an inhibitor of a glucose transporter, prevented cell death: the percentage of dead cells significantly decreased to 6.06 (SD 1.98), P=0.0088). Furthermore, glucose also prevented cell death. These present results strongly suggest that linamarin competes with cytochalasin B and glucose for binding to a glucose transporter and enters into cells via glucose transporter.

GLUT8 glucose transporter is localized to excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the rat hippocampus

Fluorescence immunohistochemistry was performed to characterize the distribution and phenotype of GLUT8-positive neurons in rat brain and to compare the cellular distribution of GLUT8 with GLUT3 in the hippocampus. Based upon the absence of co-localization with the non-neuronal markers GFAP (astroglial) and OX42 (microglial), it appears that GLUT8 is expressed exclusively in neurons. At the cellular level, GLUT8 immunofluorescence was localized to neuronal cell bodies and the most proximal dendrites of inhibitory and excitatory neurons while GLUT3 immunofluorescence was localized to the neuropil in the hippocampus. These results demonstrate that GLUT8 is a neuron-specific glucose transporter expressed in the neuronal cell bodies of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the rat hippocampus.

Daily and circadian fluctuation in 2-deoxy[(14)C]-glucose uptake in circadian and visual system structures of the chick brain: effects of exogenous melatonin

Previous studies show that several structures of the house sparrow visual system are metabolically rhythmic, as determined by 2-deoxy[(14)C]glucose (2DG) uptake, and that these metabolic rhythms depend upon rhythmic melatonin in this species. In many species of birds, high affinity binding of 2[(125)I] iodomelatonin is widespread in the brain, especially in visual system structures. The present study asks whether 2DG uptake is similarly rhythmic in the chick brain and whether exogenous melatonin administration affects 2DG uptake. Chicks were injected with 2DG and sacrificed 1 h later. Their brains were removed and processed for 2DG autoradiography. Chicks were injected during the late day with melatonin or saline prior to the 2DG injection and brain processing. We found that the visual suprachiasmatic nucleus showed both daily and circadian differences in 2DG uptake. Six of seven visual structures displayed daily uptake changes, while only two structures showed circadian fluctuations. Melatonin affected daytime 2DG uptake within visual suprachiasmatic nucleus and ectostriatum only. These results indicate that the chick circadian system is involved in the regulation of energy metabolism in the visual system but that the role for pineal melatonin in that regulatory process is a subtle one.

Correlation between local glucose transporter densities and local 3-O-methylglucose transport in rat brain

The present study addresses the question whether local glucose transport kinetics are correlated with local glucose transporter densities in the brain. In 47 brain structures the local rate constants for 3-O-[(14)C]methylglucose (3-O-MG) transport, K(1) and k(2,) were quantified, and local glucose Glut1 and Glut3 transporter densities were determined by immuno-autoradiographic methods. Statistically significant correlations were found between the rate constants for glucose transport and the transporter densities. The correlations were tighter for Glut1 than for Glut3. Inasmuch as 3-O-MG is transported by the same transporter as glucose, these results indicate that the local densities of glucose transporters determine local glucose transport rates in the brain.

Increased cerebral glucose utilization and decreased glucose transporter Glut1 during chronic hyperglycemia in rat brain

Whereas acute hyperglycemia has been shown to result in an unchanged local cerebral glucose utilization (LCGU) the changes of LCGU during chronic hyperglycemia are a matter of dispute. The present study had three aims: (1) To compare the effects of acute and chronic hyperglycemia on LCGU and to investigate in vivo the lactate level as a potential indicator of glycolytic flux. (2) To investigate local changes in brain Glut1 and/or Glut3 glucose transporter densities during chronic hyperglycemia. (3) To analyze the relationship between LCGU and local Glut densities during chronic hyperglycemia. To induce chronic hyperglycemia in rats steptozotocin was given i.p. and experiments were performed 3 weeks later. LCGU was measured by the 2-[14C]deoxyglucose method and intraparenchymal lactate concentration by MR-spectroscopy. Local densities of the glucose transport proteins were determined by immunoautoradiographic methods. During chronic hyperglycemia weighted average of LCGU increased by 13.9% whereas it remained unchanged during acute hyperglycemia. The cerebral lactate/choline ratio was increased by 143% during chronic hyperglycemia. The average density of glucose transporters Glut1 decreased by 7.5%. Local densities of Glut1 were decreased in 12 of 28 brain structures. Glut3 remained unchanged. Positive correlations were found between LCGU and local Glut densities during control conditions and during chronic hyperglycemia. It was concluded that (1) Chronic, but not acute hyperglycemia is followed by an increased LCGU. (2) The capacity to transport glucose is decreased during chronic hyperglycemia. (3) Increased LCGU and decreased densities of Glut1 are matched on a local level.

Low cerebral glucose extraction rates in the human medial temporal cortex and cerebellum

Previous studies have reported that there exist different regional sensitivities to acute hypoxia. To better understand these differences, we estimated regional differences of cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral glucose metabolism (CMRglc) and kinetic constants (K(1), k(2), k(3)) in the human cortex under resting conditions. CBF, CMRglc, kinetic rate constants and glucose extraction rate (GER) were measured in eight normal male subjects (mean age: 26.1+/- 4.9 years) using the 15O-water autoradiographic technique and subsequently the dynamic and the static [18F]2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose technique with positron emission tomography (PET). Of all the brain structures investigated, the medial temporal lobe showed the lowest CBF (46.0 ml/100 g/min) and lowest CMRglc (3.97 mg/100 g/min). The medial temporal GER was lowest (8.9%), followed by the cerebellar GER (9.3%). While the cerebellar blood flow (64.0 ml/100 g/min) was the highest, the cerebellar metabolic rate for glucose (5.79 mg/100 g/min) was relatively low. The cerebellum showed the highest K(1) value (0.13) and k(2) value (0.16), and the lowest k(3) value (0.05). In the medial temporal cortices and cerebellum, CMRglc and GER were lower than those in the neocortices. These results indicate that there are great perfusional/metabolic differences between the medial temporal lobe, cerebellum and other brain regions in the normal human brain under resting conditions.

Cerebral glucose utilization and glucose transporter expression: response to water deprivation and restoration

The relationship between local rates of cerebral glucose utilization (ICMRglc) and glucose transporter expression was examined during physiologic activation of the hypothalamoneurohypophysial system. Three days of water deprivation, which is known to activate the hypothalamoneurohypophysial system, resulted in increased ICMRglc and increased concentrations of GLUT1 and GLUT3 in the neurohypophysis; mRNA levels of GLUT1 and GLUT3 were decreased and increased, respectively. Water deprivation also increased ICMRglc in the hypothalamic supraoptic and paraventricular nuclei; mRNA levels of GLUT1 and GLUT3 appeared to increase in these nuclei, but the changes did not achieve statistical significance. Restoration of water for 3 to 7 days reversed all observed changes in GLUT expression (protein and mRNA): restoration of water also reversed changes in ICMRglc in both the neurohypophysis and the hypothalamic nuclei. These results indicate that under conditions of neural activation and recovery, changes in ICMRglc and the levels of GLUT1 and GLUT3 are temporally correlated in the neurohypophysis and raise the possibility that GLUT1 and GLUT3 transporter expression may be regulated by chronic changes in functional activity. In addition, increases in the expression of GLUT5 mRNA in the neurohypophysis after dehydration provide evidence for involvement of microglial activation.

Brain water content, glucose transporter densities and glucose utilization after 3 days of water deprivation in the rat

After 3 days of water deprivation, the following parameters were measured in rats: (i) brain water content (apparent diffusion coefficient); (ii) local cerebral glucose utilization (LCGU) ([14C]deoxyglucose method) and (iii) densities of glucose transporters Glut1 and Glut3 (immunoautoradiography). The results show that brain water content is maintained after water deprivation. Densities of glucose transporters Glut1 and Glut3 increased in parallel to increased LCGU in some of the osmoregulatory structures indicating a long-term local adaptation of glucose transporters to LCGU.

Glucose transport in brain and retina: implications in the management and complications of diabetes

Neural tissue is entirely dependent on glucose for normal metabolic activity. Since glucose stores in the brain and retina are negligible compared to glucose demand, metabolism in these tissues is dependent upon adequate glucose delivery from the systemic circulation. In the brain, the critical interface for glucose transport is at the brain capillary endothelial cells which comprise the blood-brain barrier (BBB). In the retina, transport occurs across the retinal capillary endothelial cells of the inner blood-retinal barrier (BRB) and the retinal pigment epithelium of the outer BRB. Because glucose transport across these barriers is mediated exclusively by the sodium-independent glucose transporter GLUT1, changes in endothelial glucose transport and GLUT1 abundance in the barriers of the brain and retina may have profound consequences on glucose delivery to these tissues and major implications in the development of two major diabetic complications, namely insulin-induced hypoglycemia and diabetic retinopathy. This review discusses the regulation of brain and retinal glucose transport and glucose transporter expression and considers the role of changes in glucose transporter expression in the development of two of the most devastating complications of long-standing diabetes mellitus and its management.

Increase in glucose transporter densities of Glut3 and decrease of glucose utilization in rat brain after one week of hypoglycemia

The present study addresses the question whether a chronic decrease of plasma glucose concentration for 1 week induces a global or local increase in glucose transporter densities Glut1 and Glut3 in the brain. To induce chronic hypoglycemia insulin was infused into rats by osmotic minipumps for 1 week resulting in a mean plasma glucose concentration of 3.1+/-0.5 mmol/l (control group: 8.1+/-0.5 mmol/l). Global and local densities of Glut1 and Glut3 glucose transporters were measured by immunoautoradiographic methods. The mean density of glucose transporters Glut1 remained unchanged, whereas the mean density of Glut3 increased slightly, although significantly. To determine whether the increased density of Glut3 is related to a change in glucose metabolism, the local cerebral metabolic rate of glucose (lCMR(glc)) was quantified by the 2-deoxyglucose method. Mean glucose utilization was decreased by 15%. Local analysis of transporter densities (Glut1 and Glut3) and glucose utilization showed a significant correlation between local glucose transporter densities (Glut1 and Glut3) and lCMR(glc) during hypoglycemia as already previously observed during normoglycemia. It is concluded that 1 week of hypoglycemia is a stimulus for the induction of additional glucose transporters Glut3 in the brain. These additional neuronal glucose transporters may support the maintenance of glucose utilization which is not completely maintained under these conditions.

Regulation of GLUT-3 glucose transporter in the hippocampus of diabetic rats subjected to stress

Previous studies from our laboratory have demonstrated that chronic stress produces molecular, morphological, and ultrastructural changes in the rat hippocampus that are accompanied by cognitive deficits. Glucocorticoid attenuation of glucose utilization is proposed to be one of the causative factors involved in stress-induced changes in the hippocampus, producing an energy-compromised environment that may make hippocampal neuronal populations more vulnerable to neurotoxic insults. Similarly, diabetes potentiates neuronal damage in acute neurotoxic events, such as ischemia and stroke. Accordingly, the current study examined the regulation of the neuron-specific glucose transporter, GLUT-3, in the hippocampus of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats subjected to restraint stress. Diabetes leads to significant increases in GLUT-3 mRNA and protein expression in the hippocampus, increases that are not affected by stress. Collectively, these results suggest that streptozotocin-induced increases in GLUT-3 mRNA and protein expression in the hippocampus may represent a compensatory mechanism to increase glucose utilization during diabetes and also suggest that modulation of GLUT-3 expression is not responsible for glucocorticoid impairment of glucose utilization.

Decreased glucose transporter densities, rate constants and glucose utilization in visual structures of rat brain during chronic visual deprivation

The question was investigated whether local changes in glucose transporter densities and transport kinetics can occur when local cerebral glucose utilization (LCGU) is decreased in some brain structures. Unilateral visual deprivation was induced by monocular enucleation in 25 rats. After 1 week, the contralateral structures of the visual system were analyzed for (1) densities of glucose transporters Glut1 and Glut3 (immunoautoradiography), (2) LCGU (2-[14C]deoxyglucose method) and (3) local rate constants (3-O[14C]methylglucose method). The ipsilateral structures served as controls. During chronic visual deprivation Glut1 and Glut3 densities, LCGU and rate constants were significantly decreased in some structures of the visual system and remained unchanged in others. These results indicate a moderate degree of downregulation of glucose transporters, LCGU and rate constants in the visual system during visual deprivation.

Increase of glucose transporter densities (Glut1 and Glut3) during chronic administration of nicotine in rat brain

Chronic infusion of nicotine is known to result in a distinct pattern of increases in local cerebral glucose utilization (LCGU). The present study addresses the question whether this increase in LCGU is paralleled by (1) a local increase in Glut1 and/or Glut3 glucose transporter densities and (2) a local increase in capillary density in the brain. Nicotine was infused by osmotic minipumps for one week. In cryosections of rat brains local densities of Glut1 (vascular) and Glut3 (neuronal) glucose transporters were measured by immunoautoradiographic methods whereas local capillary densities were determined by an immunofluorescent method. Densities of glucose transporters Glut1 and Glut3 were increased in 12 of the 27 structures investigated. Glut1 was elevated in four additional structures and Glut3 in two more structures. Comparison of the changes in transporter densities with the changes of LCGU measured in a previous study during chronic nicotine infusion showed that LCGU was also elevated in most of these structures. In contrast, capillary density remained unchanged in all structures investigated. It is concluded that one week of nicotine infusion is sufficient to raise the densities of Glut1 and Glut3 glucose transporters predominantly in those structures in which LCGU is elevated. The unchanged capillary density under these conditions indicates an increased density of Glut1 transporters per capillary.

Distribution of Glut1 glucose transporters in different brain structures compared to glucose utilization and capillary density of adult rat brains

Glut1 is a specific transporter system that mediates glucose transfer across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Although the main location of Glut1 is in the capillary endothelium of the brain, its local distribution in different brain regions is not as well defined. In the present investigation, the local pattern of Glut1 distribution was determined in 13 brain structures using an immunoautoradiographic method developed for this purpose. A polyclonal antibody directed against the C-terminal amino acid sequence of Glut1 was applied to cryosections of rat brains. A secondary antibody was added that had been coupled to [35S]. Results show a heterogeneous distribution of Glut1 in the brain with activities of [35S] ranging from 65% below to 15% above the mean. White matter activity was lower than gray matter activity. For comparison, capillary sections were counted in corresponding cryosections by indirect immunofluorescence using fibronectin antibodies. In addition, local cerebral glucose utilization (LCGU) was analyzed in identical brain structures of conscious rats by the quantitative autoradiographic 2-deoxyglucose method. Significant correlations were found between Glut1 density and either LCGU or capillary density. Results indicate a tight coupling of Glut1 transporter density and capillary density to the LCGU of different BBB structures in adult rats.