Inositolphosphoglycans possibly mediate the effects of glucagon-like peptide-1(7-36)amide on rat liver and adipose tissue.

Insulin-like effects of glucagon-like peptide-1(7-36)amide (GLP-1) in rat liver, skeletal muscle and fat, and also the presence of GLP-1 receptors in these extrapancreatic tissues, have been documented. In skeletal muscle and liver, the action of GLP-1 is not associated with an activation of adenylate cyclase, and in cultured murine myocytes and hepatoma cell lines, it was found that GLP-1 provokes the generation of inositolphosphoglycan molecules (IPGs), which are considered second messengers of insulin action. In the present work, we document in isolated normal rat adipocytes and hepatocytes that GLP-1 exerts a rapid decrease of the radiolabelled glycosylphosphatidylinositols (GPIs)--precursors of IPGs--in the same manner as insulin, indicating their hydrolysis and the immediate short-lived generation of IPGs. Thus, IPGs could be mediators in the GLP-1 actions in adipose tissue and liver, as well as in skeletal muscle, through GLP-1 receptors which are, at least functionally, different from that of the pancreatic B-cell.