Targeting negative phosphorylation to activate AMPK

AMPK is a master regulator of metabolism and is highly conserved and ubiquitously expressed. Activation of AMPK stimulates the catabolic pathway (glucose utilization and β-oxidation) and inhibits the anabolic pathway (gluconeogenesis, protein synthesis, and lipogenesis), leading to improvement of ce...

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Main Authors: Alexia Pearah, Balamurugan Ramatchandirin, Karina Ramirez, Sally Radovick, Fredric E Wondisford, Ling He
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Bioscientifica 2025-07-01
Series:Endocrine Connections
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Online Access:https://ec.bioscientifica.com/view/journals/ec/14/7/EC-25-0260.xml
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author Alexia Pearah
Balamurugan Ramatchandirin
Karina Ramirez
Sally Radovick
Fredric E Wondisford
Ling He
author_facet Alexia Pearah
Balamurugan Ramatchandirin
Karina Ramirez
Sally Radovick
Fredric E Wondisford
Ling He
author_sort Alexia Pearah
collection DOAJ
description AMPK is a master regulator of metabolism and is highly conserved and ubiquitously expressed. Activation of AMPK stimulates the catabolic pathway (glucose utilization and β-oxidation) and inhibits the anabolic pathway (gluconeogenesis, protein synthesis, and lipogenesis), leading to improvement of cellular energy status. However, the mechanisms of maintaining low cellular AMPK activity are not fully understood. We and other investigators showed that activated PKA in the glucagon-cAMP signaling pathway and insulin-activated AKT both can directly phosphorylate AMPKα1/2 at S496/491 to inhibit AMPK activity. In the current study, we found that activation of AMPK by an activator, AICAR, led to elevated and prolonged phosphorylation of AMPKα1/2 at S496/S491, reflecting a feedback inhibition of AMPK activity. In an in vitro assay, functional AMPKα1β1γ1 or AMPKα2β1γ1 can phosphorylate AMPKα1 at S496 or AMPKα2 at S491, respectively. We designed and successfully screened a new AMPKα2-targeting peptide to activate AMPK through competitively blocking the negative phosphorylation, resulting in suppression of gluconeogenic gene expression and promotion of mitochondrial fission in hepatocytes.
format Article
id doaj-art-3b1d6b2570a34d0d8e4e4544df77156f
institution Kabale University
issn 2049-3614
language English
publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Bioscientifica
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series Endocrine Connections
spelling doaj-art-3b1d6b2570a34d0d8e4e4544df77156f2025-08-20T03:28:18ZengBioscientificaEndocrine Connections2049-36142025-07-0114710.1530/EC-25-02601Targeting negative phosphorylation to activate AMPKAlexia Pearah0Balamurugan Ramatchandirin1Karina Ramirez2Sally Radovick3Fredric E Wondisford4Ling He5Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USADepartment of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USADepartment of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix, Arizona, USADepartment of Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix, Arizona, USADepartment of Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Phoenix, Arizona, USADepartment of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USAAMPK is a master regulator of metabolism and is highly conserved and ubiquitously expressed. Activation of AMPK stimulates the catabolic pathway (glucose utilization and β-oxidation) and inhibits the anabolic pathway (gluconeogenesis, protein synthesis, and lipogenesis), leading to improvement of cellular energy status. However, the mechanisms of maintaining low cellular AMPK activity are not fully understood. We and other investigators showed that activated PKA in the glucagon-cAMP signaling pathway and insulin-activated AKT both can directly phosphorylate AMPKα1/2 at S496/491 to inhibit AMPK activity. In the current study, we found that activation of AMPK by an activator, AICAR, led to elevated and prolonged phosphorylation of AMPKα1/2 at S496/S491, reflecting a feedback inhibition of AMPK activity. In an in vitro assay, functional AMPKα1β1γ1 or AMPKα2β1γ1 can phosphorylate AMPKα1 at S496 or AMPKα2 at S491, respectively. We designed and successfully screened a new AMPKα2-targeting peptide to activate AMPK through competitively blocking the negative phosphorylation, resulting in suppression of gluconeogenic gene expression and promotion of mitochondrial fission in hepatocytes.https://ec.bioscientifica.com/view/journals/ec/14/7/EC-25-0260.xmlampk phosphorylationtargeting-peptidegluconeogenic gene expression
spellingShingle Alexia Pearah
Balamurugan Ramatchandirin
Karina Ramirez
Sally Radovick
Fredric E Wondisford
Ling He
Targeting negative phosphorylation to activate AMPK
Endocrine Connections
ampk phosphorylation
targeting-peptide
gluconeogenic gene expression
title Targeting negative phosphorylation to activate AMPK
title_full Targeting negative phosphorylation to activate AMPK
title_fullStr Targeting negative phosphorylation to activate AMPK
title_full_unstemmed Targeting negative phosphorylation to activate AMPK
title_short Targeting negative phosphorylation to activate AMPK
title_sort targeting negative phosphorylation to activate ampk
topic ampk phosphorylation
targeting-peptide
gluconeogenic gene expression
url https://ec.bioscientifica.com/view/journals/ec/14/7/EC-25-0260.xml
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AT karinaramirez targetingnegativephosphorylationtoactivateampk
AT sallyradovick targetingnegativephosphorylationtoactivateampk
AT fredricewondisford targetingnegativephosphorylationtoactivateampk
AT linghe targetingnegativephosphorylationtoactivateampk