scholarly journals AMP-activated protein kinase, stress responses and cardiovascular diseases

2012 ◽  
Vol 122 (12) ◽  
pp. 555-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaobin Wang ◽  
Ping Song ◽  
Ming-Hui Zou
Keyword(s):  
Cell Proliferation ◽  
Protein Kinase ◽  
Stress Responses ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Redox Balance ◽  
Cellular Polarity ◽  
Pathological Conditions ◽  
Energy Sensor ◽  
Intracellular Energy ◽  
Amp Activated Protein Kinase

AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase) is one of the key players in maintaining intracellular homoeostasis. AMPK is well known as an energy sensor and can be activated by increased intracellular AMP levels. Generally, the activation of AMPK turns on catabolic pathways that generate ATP, while inhibiting cell proliferation and biosynthetic processes that consume ATP. In recent years, intensive investigations on the regulation and the function of AMPK indicates that AMPK not only functions as an intracellular energy sensor and regulator, but is also a general stress sensor that is important in maintaining intracellular homoeostasis during many kinds of stress challenges. In the present paper, we will review recent literature showing that AMPK functions far beyond its proposed energy sensor and regulator function. AMPK regulates ROS (reactive oxygen species)/redox balance, autophagy, cell proliferation, cell apoptosis, cellular polarity, mitochondrial function and genotoxic response, either directly or indirectly via numerous downstream pathways under physiological and pathological conditions.

scholarly journals VRK-1 extends life span by activation of AMPK via phosphorylation

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (27) ◽  
pp. eaaw7824
Author(s):  
Sangsoon Park ◽  
Murat Artan ◽  
Seung Hyun Han ◽  
Hae-Eun H. Park ◽  
Yoonji Jung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Kinase ◽  
Life Span ◽  
Adult Life ◽  
Adult Life Span ◽  
C Elegans ◽  
Energy Sensor ◽  
Evolutionarily Conserved ◽  
Cultured Human Cells ◽  
Germline Proliferation ◽  
Amp Activated Protein Kinase

Vaccinia virus–related kinase (VRK) is an evolutionarily conserved nuclear protein kinase. VRK-1, the single Caenorhabditis elegans VRK ortholog, functions in cell division and germline proliferation. However, the role of VRK-1 in postmitotic cells and adult life span remains unknown. Here, we show that VRK-1 increases organismal longevity by activating the cellular energy sensor, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), via direct phosphorylation. We found that overexpression of vrk-1 in the soma of adult C. elegans increased life span and, conversely, inhibition of vrk-1 decreased life span. In addition, vrk-1 was required for longevity conferred by mutations that inhibit C. elegans mitochondrial respiration, which requires AMPK. VRK-1 directly phosphorylated and up-regulated AMPK in both C. elegans and cultured human cells. Thus, our data show that the somatic nuclear kinase, VRK-1, promotes longevity through AMPK activation, and this function appears to be conserved between C. elegans and humans.

scholarly journals Role of the energy sensor AMP-activated protein kinase in renal physiology and disease

2010 ◽  
Vol 298 (5) ◽  
pp. F1067-F1077 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth R. Hallows ◽  
Peter F. Mount ◽  
Núria M. Pastor-Soler ◽  
David A. Power
Keyword(s):  
Protein Kinase ◽  
Ion Transport ◽  
Ischemia Reperfusion Injury ◽  
Ischemia Reperfusion ◽  
Renal Physiology ◽  
Renal Diseases ◽  
Renal Hypertrophy ◽  
Energy Sensor ◽  
Energy Consuming ◽  
Amp Activated Protein Kinase

The ultrasensitive energy sensor AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) orchestrates the regulation of energy-generating and energy-consuming pathways. AMPK is highly expressed in the kidney where it is reported to be involved in a variety of physiological and pathological processes including ion transport, podocyte function, and diabetic renal hypertrophy. Sodium transport is the major energy-consuming process in the kidney, and AMPK has been proposed to contribute to the coupling of ion transport with cellular energy metabolism. Specifically, AMPK has been identified as a regulator of several ion transporters of significance in renal physiology, including the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC), the Na+-K+-2Cl− cotransporter (NKCC), and the vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase). Identified regulators of AMPK in the kidney include dietary salt, diabetes, adiponectin, and ischemia. Activation of AMPK in response to adiponectin is described in podocytes, where it reduces albuminuria, and in tubular cells, where it reduces glycogen accumulation. Reduced AMPK activity in the diabetic kidney is associated with renal accumulation of triglyceride and glycogen and the pathogenesis of diabetic renal hypertrophy. Acute renal ischemia causes a rapid and powerful activation of AMPK, but the functional significance of this observation remains unclear. Despite the recent advances, there remain significant gaps in the present understanding of both the upstream regulating pathways and the downstream substrates for AMPK in the kidney. A more complete understanding of the AMPK pathway in the kidney offers potential for improved therapies for several renal diseases including diabetic nephropathy, polycystic kidney disease, and ischemia-reperfusion injury.

scholarly journals β-subunit myristoylation functions as an energy sensor by modulating the dynamics of AMP-activated Protein Kinase

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nada Ali ◽  
Naomi Ling ◽  
Srinath Krishnamurthy ◽  
Jonathan S. Oakhill ◽  
John W. Scott ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Kinase ◽  
Β Subunit ◽  
Energy Sensor ◽  
Amp Activated Protein Kinase

AMP-activated protein kinase: a cellular energy sensor with a key role in metabolic disorders and in cancer

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Grahame Hardie
Keyword(s):  
Protein Kinase ◽  
Metabolic Disorders ◽  
Adenine Nucleotides ◽  
Metabolic Stress ◽  
Branch Points ◽  
Atp Production ◽  
Nucleotide Binding Sites ◽  
Anticancer Effects ◽  
Energy Sensor ◽  
Amp Activated Protein Kinase

It is essential to life that a balance is maintained between processes that produce ATP and those that consume it. An obvious way to do this would be to have systems that monitor the levels of ATP and ADP, although because of the adenylate kinase reaction (2ADP↔ATP+AMP), AMP is actually a more sensitive indicator of energy stress than ADP. Following the discoveries that glycogen phosphorylase and phosphofructokinase were regulated by AMP and ATP, Daniel Atkinson proposed that all enzymes at branch points between biosynthesis and degradation would be regulated by adenine nucleotides. This turned out to be correct, but what Atkinson did not anticipate was that sensing of nucleotides would, in most cases, be performed not by the metabolic enzymes themselves, but by a signalling protein, AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase). AMPK occurs in essentially all eukaryotes and consists of heterotrimeric complexes comprising catalytic α subunits and regulatory β and γ subunits, of which the latter carries the nucleotide-binding sites. Once activated by a metabolic stress, it phosphorylates numerous targets that alter enzyme activity and gene expression to initiate corrective responses. In lower eukaryotes, it is critically involved in the responses to starvation for a carbon source. Because of its ability to switch cellular metabolism from anabolic to catabolic mode, AMPK has become a key drug target to combat metabolic disorders associated with overnutrition such as Type 2 diabetes, and some existing anti-diabetic drugs (e.g. metformin) and many ‘nutraceuticals’ work by activating AMPK, usually via inhibition of mitochondrial ATP production. AMPK activators also potentially have anticancer effects, and there is already evidence that metformin provides protection against the initiation of cancer. Whether AMPK activators can be used to treat existing cancer is less clear, because many tumour cells appear to have been selected for mutations that inactivate the AMPK system. However, if we can identify the various mechanisms by which this occurs, we may be able to find ways of overcoming it.

scholarly journals AMPK: a balancer of the renin–angiotensin system

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jia Liu ◽  
Xuan Li ◽  
Qingguo Lu ◽  
Di Ren ◽  
Xiaodong Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Insulin Resistance ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Renin Angiotensin System ◽  
Angiotensin System ◽  
Renin Angiotensin ◽  
Cellular Energy ◽  
Arterial Blood ◽  
Energy Sensor ◽  
Cellular Pathways ◽  
Amp Activated Protein Kinase

Abstract The renin–angiotensin system (RAS) is undisputedly well-studied as one of the oldest and most critical regulators for arterial blood pressure, fluid volume, as well as renal function. In recent studies, RAS has also been implicated in the development of obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and other diseases, and also involved in the regulation of several signaling pathways such as proliferation, apoptosis and autophagy, and insulin resistance. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), an essential cellular energy sensor, has also been discovered to be involved in these diseases and cellular pathways. This would imply a connection between the RAS and AMPK. Therefore, this review serves to draw attention to the cross-talk between RAS and AMPK, then summering the most recent literature which highlights AMPK as a point of balance between physiological and pathological functions of the RAS.

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