Vol. 63, Issue 1, 81-88, January 2003

The Effect of Insulin on Expression Level of Nucleoside Transporters in Diabetic Rats

Tadeusz Pawelczyk, Marzena Podgorska, and Monika Sakowicz

Department of Molecular Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland (T.P., M.P., M.S.); and Medical Research Center of Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland (T.P.)

Evidence that the time course of insulin-induced changes in adenosine level in diabetic rats is different from that observed for expression of adenosine kinase prompted us to study the insulin effect on expression of nucleoside transporters in tissues of diabetic rats. RNase protection assay demonstrated that mRNA levels of equilibrative (rENT) and Na⁺-dependent nucleoside transporters (rCNT) were altered in diabetic tissues. The rENT1 mRNA level with respect to values obtained in age- and sex-matched nondiabetic rats was decreased by 45, 32, and 10% in diabetic heart, liver, and kidney, respectively. The level of rENT2 mRNA was lowered by 40% in diabetic kidney and heart, and by 24% in diabetic liver. Changes in the expression pattern of rCNT1 and rCNT2 in diabetic tissues differed significantly from that observed for rENT. The levels of rCNT1 and rCNT2 mRNA did not change significantly in diabetic kidney. In diabetic heart, the mRNA levels of rCNT1 and rCNT2 increased 1.7- and 2-fold, respectively. Changes in expression of nucleoside transporters were accompanied by alterations in adenosine content. Administration of insulin to diabetic rats resulted in a drop in adenosine concentration in examined tissues and return of the rCNT1, rCNT2, and rENT2 but not rENT1 mRNA levels to values observed in nondiabetic rats. In summary, these data demonstrate that insulin affects expression of nucleoside transporters in a cell-specific manner. We conclude that change in the expression level of the nucleoside transporters occurring in tissues of diabetic rat is an important factor influencing adenosine levels in the cell.