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Zonal expression of the glucokinase gene in rat liver. Dynamics during the daily feeding rhythm and starvation-refeeding cycle demonstrated by in situ hybridization

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Abstract

The abundance and zonal distribution of glucokinase (GK) mRNA were studied in rat liver during a normal 12 h day/12 h night rhythm (dark from 1900 to 0700 hours) and during refeeding after 60 h of starvation. Zonation of GK gene expression was examined by in situ hybridization with a radiolabelled cRNA probe and GK mRNA abundance was determined by Northern blot analysis with a digoxigenin-labelled cRNA probe. GK mRNA appeared to be almost homogeneously distributed throughout the whole daily feeding cycle; yet it was predominantly localized in the perivenous and intermediate zone during refeeding after 60 h of starvation. During the daily feeding rhythm, the total amount of GK mRNA increased quickly with the beginning of the feeding period at 1900 hours reaching a maximum at midnight and then decreased continuously to a basal level at noon. Virtually no GK mRNA was detected after 60 h of starvation. Refeeding caused a rapid increase in GK mRNA to a maximum at 2400 hours followed by a decrease to approximately two-thirds of the maximum value at 0700 hours. If the homogeneous distribution of GK mRNA during the daily feeding rhythm was real rather than apparent because of too low a sensitivity of the cRNA probe, the present results suggest that during the normal circadian cycle the mainly perivenous distribution of GK enzyme activity and protein is regulated preferentially at a translational level. The findings clearly show that during refeeding after 60 h of starvation the GK distribution is controlled predominantly at a pretranslational level.

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  1. Institut für Biochemie und Molekulare Zellbiologie, Georg-August Universität, Humboldtallee 23, W-3400, Göttingen, Germany

    F. Eilers, H. Bartels & K. Jungermann

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  1. F. Eilers
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  2. H. Bartels
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  3. K. Jungermann
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Eilers, F., Bartels, H. & Jungermann, K. Zonal expression of the glucokinase gene in rat liver. Dynamics during the daily feeding rhythm and starvation-refeeding cycle demonstrated by in situ hybridization. Histochemistry 99, 133–140 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00571874

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