Role of GPR120 in cell motile activity induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate in liver epithelial WB-F344 cells.

G-protein-coupled receptor 120 (GPR120) is identified as a G-protein-coupled receptor for unsaturated long-chain free fatty acids that mediates insulin signaling and anti-inflammatory effects. Recently, it has been reported that GPR120 promotes the cell motile activity and angiogenesis in cancer cells. In this study, we assessed the role of GPR120 in the cell motile activity induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) in rat liver epithelial WB-F344 cells. Cells were treated with TPA at a concentration of 5 nM for 72 h. The expression level of the Gpr120 gene was measured by quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis. Cells treated with TPA showed the elevated Gpr120 expression, in comparison with untreated cells. In cell motility assays, the cell motile activity of cells treated with TPA was significantly higher than that of untreated cells. To confirm whether GPR120 is involved in the cell motile activity mediated by TPA, we generated GPR120 knockdown cells from WB-F344 cells. The cell motile activity induced by TPA was significantly suppressed by GPR120 knockdown. These results suggest that GPR120 plays an important role in the cell motile activity induced by TPA in WB-F344 cells.