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Effects of Chromium-Loaded Chitosan Nanoparticles on Glucose Transporter 4, Relevant mRNA, and Proteins of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase, Akt2-Kinase, and AMP-Activated Protein Kinase of Skeletal Muscles in Finishing Pigs

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Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of chromium-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (Cr-CNP) on glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4), relevant messenger RNA (mRNA), and proteins involved in phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), Akt2-kinase, and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) of skeletal muscles in finishing pigs. A total of 120 crossbred barrows (BW 65.00 ± 1.26 kg) were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments, with three pens per treatment and 10 pigs per pen. Pigs were fed the basal diet supplemented with 0, 100, 200, or 400 μg/kg of Cr from Cr-CNP for 35 days. After the feeding trials, 24 pigs were slaughtered to collect longissimus muscle samples for analysis. Cr-CNP supplementation increased GLUT4 messenger RNA (mRNA) (quadratically, P < 0.01) and total and plasma membrane GLUT4 protein contents (linearly and quadratically, P < 0.001) in skeletal muscles. Glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β) mRNA was decreased linearly (P < 0.001) and quadratically (P < 0.001). Supplemental Cr-CNP increased insulin receptor (InsR) mRNA quadratically (P < 0.01), Akt2 total protein level linearly (P < 0.01) and quadratically (P < 0.001), and PI3K total protein was increased significantly (P < 0.05) in 200 μg/kg treatment group. The mRNA of AMPK subunit gamma-3 (PRKAG3) and protein of AMPKα1 was significantly increased (P < 0.001) with the addition of Cr-CNP. The results indicate that dietary supplementation of Cr-CNP may promote glucose uptake by leading to recruitment of GLUT4 to the plasma membrane in skeletal muscles, and these actions may be associated with the insulin signal transduction and AMPK.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Program for Zhejiang Leading Team of S&T Innovation (2011R50025-04) and the National “Twelfth Five Year” Program for Science and Technology Support (2012BAD39B01).

Authors’ Contribution

The authors’ contributions are as follows: MW conceived and designed the experiments. WT, YH, and MW performed the experiments. YH, WT, LL, and MW analyzed and checked the data. MW, YH, LL, and BW contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools. LL, BW, MW, and ZL wrote the paper. The final manuscript was read and approved by all the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Molecular Animal Nutrition, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China

    Lujie Liu, Bin Wang, Wenjing Tao, Zixun Liu & Minqi Wang

  2. Department of Animal Science, Jiangxi Biotech Vocational College, 608 Nanlian Road, Nanchang, 330200, Jiangxi, People’s Republic of China

    Yudan He

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  1. Lujie Liu
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Correspondence to Minqi Wang.

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Liu, L., Wang, B., He, Y. et al. Effects of Chromium-Loaded Chitosan Nanoparticles on Glucose Transporter 4, Relevant mRNA, and Proteins of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase, Akt2-Kinase, and AMP-Activated Protein Kinase of Skeletal Muscles in Finishing Pigs. Biol Trace Elem Res 178, 36–43 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-016-0890-1

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