Activation of AMP-activated protein kinase stimulates proopiomelanocortin gene transcription in AtT20 corticotroph cells.

Starvation is known to activate the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, a representative antistress system in the living organism. In this study, we investigated in vitro whether activation of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which is known to occur in intracellular energy depletion, influences the expression of POMC gene that encodes adrenocorticotropin. We first confirmed that each subunit of AMPK was expressed in the AtT20 corticotroph cell line. We then found that AICAR, a cell-permeable AMP analog and an activator of AMPK, potently stimulated the 5'-promoter activity of POMC gene in a dose-dependent manner. The effects were promoter specific because AICAR enhanced the AP1-mediated POMC promoter activities but did not influence other transcription factor-induced transcription. The effect of AICAR on POMC gene transcription was completely eliminated by specific AMPK inhibitor compound C or by dominant negative AMPK, whereas overexpression of constitutively active AMPK mimicked the effect of AICAR. Finally, experiments using specific kinase inhibitors suggested that the PI 3-kinase-mediated signaling pathway is at least partly involved in the effect. Our results suggest that intracellular energy depletion with the resultant activation of AMPK directly stimulates the HPA axis at the pituitary level by increasing the expression of POMC gene.