Overexpression of glucose transporter 2 in GT1-7 cells inhibits AMP-activated protein kinase and agouti-related peptide expression

Glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2) has been proposed as a glucose sensor in pancreatic beta cells. GLUT2 has been found widely expressed in the brain and GLUT2 in the hypothalamus and hindbrain has been suggested to be involved in the central glucose sensing and regulation of glucose homeostasis and food intake. In this study, we overexpressed GLUT2 in GT1-7 neuroblastoma cells and investigated the effect of GLUT2 overexpression on cellular energy status in these cells. Compared with control cells, GLUT2 overexpression resulted in significantly increased cellular ATP levels at 5 and 25 mM glucose concentrations, more inhibition of agouti-related peptide (AgRP) mRNA and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation by glucose, and attenuated stimulation of AgRP mRNA and AMPK by 2-deoxy-d-glucose (2DG), implicating that brain GLUT2 may be important in the regulation of food intake.