Glucose-free conditions induce the expression of AMPK in dental pulp cells.
OBJECTIVES
This study is aimed to test whether glucose-free conditions induce the activation of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and, to investigate association with AMPK expression and cell viability in human dental pulp cells.


DESIGN
Human dental pulp cells were initially maintained in culture medium containing glucose and the medium was subsequently changed to glucose-free medium. To evaluate the expression of AMPK, quantitative real-time RT-PCR, Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence were carried out. Cell viability was evaluated by MTT assay.


RESULTS
The expression of AMPK mRNA in glucose free conditions was 2.0-2.5 fold higher than the control at 1, 2 and 3 h (P<0.01). The expression of phosphorylated-AMPK was characterized by Western blot analysis and by immunofluorescence. Compound C-pre-treated group showed a decline of both AMPK expression and cell viability, while AICAR-pre-treated group showed an increase of AMPK and maintain of cell viability at regular level.


CONCLUSIONS
AMPK plays an important role on fluctuating in accordance with glucose availability and protects cell viability from glucose free condition in human dental pulp cells.
['Muramatsu|Takashi|T|', 'Yuasa|Kazuhiro|K|', 'Ebihara|Kumi|K|', 'Shibukawa|Yoshiyuki|Y|', 'Ohta|Kazumasa|K|', 'Furusawa|Masahiro|M|', 'Shimono|Masaki|M|']
D055372:AMP-Activated Protein Kinases D000704:Analysis of Variance D002460:Cell Line D002470:Cell Survival D003782:Dental Pulp D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique D005947:Glucose D006801:Humans D012333:RNA, Messenger D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
AMPK Dental pulp cell Cell viability Glucose free condition Energy crisis