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We have used murine 3T3-L1 cells, which differentiate in culture and acquire morphological and biochemical features of mature adipocytes, as a model for studying the expression of cyclic-nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE) 3B activity, protein and mRNA during differentiation and during long-term treatment of the cells with tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), a cytokine associated with insulin resistance, and a cAMP analogue, N(6),2'-O-dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP). PDE3B activity, protein and mRNA could be detected 4 days after the initiation of differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. Treatment of 3T3-L1 adipocytes with 10 ng/ml TNF-alpha for 24 h produced a maximal (50%) decrease in PDE3B activity, protein and mRNA, which was well correlated with both activation of protein kinase A (PKA) and stimulation of lipolysis, presumably reflecting an increase in intracellular cAMP concentration. To investigate the effect of cAMP on PDE3B we treated 3T3-L1 adipocytes with dbcAMP. After 4 h with 0.5 mM dbcAMP, PDE3B activity was decreased by 80%, which was also correlated with a decrease in PDE3B protein and mRNA. This effect was abolished in the presence of N-[2-(bromocinnamylamino)ethyl]-5-isoquinolinesulphonamide] (H-89), a specific PKA inhibitor. We conclude that the lipolytic effect of TNF-alpha involves the down-regulation of PDE3B, which is associated with increased activation of PKA, presumably owing to increased levels of cAMP. In addition, the PKA activation induced by dbcAMP resulted in the down-regulation of PDE3B. These results, which suggest that PDE3B is a novel target for long-term regulation by TNF-alpha and cAMP, could contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms of insulin resistance.

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Wild-type (F/B), constitutively active (F/B*), and three kinase-inactive (F/Ba−, F/Bb−, F/Bc−) forms of Akt/protein kinase B (PKB) were permanently overexpressed in FDCP2 cells. In the absence of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), activities of PKB, cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase 3B (PDE3B), and PDE4 were similar in nontransfected FDCP2 cells, mock-transfected (F/V) cells, and F/B and F/B− cells. In F/V cells, IGF-1 increased PKB, PDE3B, and PDE4 activities ∼2-fold. In F/B cells, IGF-1, in a wortmannin-sensitive manner, increased PKB activity ∼10-fold and PDE3B phosphorylation and activity (∼4-fold), but increased PDE4 to the same extent as in F/V cells. In F/B* cells, in the absence of IGF-1, PKB activity was markedly increased (∼10-fold) and PDE3B was phosphorylated and activated (3- to 4-fold); wortmannin inhibited these effects. In F/B* cells, IGF-1 had little further effect on PKB and activation/phosphorylation of PDE3B. In F/B− cells, IGF-1 activated PDE4, not PDE3B, suggesting that kinase-inactive PKB behaved as a dominant negative with respect to PDE3B activation. Thymidine incorporation was greater in F/B* cells than in F/V cells and was inhibited to a greater extent by PDE3 inhibitors than by rolipram, a PDE4 inhibitor. In F/B cells, IGF-1-induced phosphorylation of the apoptotic protein BAD was inhibited by the PDE3 inhibitor cilostamide. Activated PKB phosphorylated and activated rPDE3B in vitro. These results suggest that PDE3B, not PDE4, is a target of PKB and that activated PDE3B may regulate cAMP pools that modulate effects of PKB on thymidine incorporation and BAD phosphorylation in FDCP2 cells.

Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE) 3B plays an important role in the antilipolytic action of insulin and, thereby, the release of fatty acids from adipocytes. Increased concentrations of circulating fatty acids as a result of elevated or unrestrained lipolysis cause insulin resistance. The lipolytic action of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-␣ is thought to be one of the mechanisms by which TNF-␣ induces insulin resistance. Ceramide is the suggested second messenger of TNF-␣ action, and in this study, we used 3T3-L1 adipocytes to investigate the effects of C 2 -ceramide (a short-chain ceramide analog) on the expression and regulation of PDE3B and lipolysis. Incubation of adipocytes with 100 mol/l C 2 -ceramide (N-acetyl-sphingosine) resulted in a timedependent decrease of PDE3B activity, accompanied by decreased PDE3B protein expression. C 2 -ceramide, in a time-and dose-dependent manner, stimulated lipolysis, an effect that was blocked by H-89, an inhibitor of protein kinase A. These ceramide effects were prevented by 20 mol/l troglitazone, an antidiabetic drug. In addition to downregulation of PDE3B, the antilipolytic action of insulin was decreased by ceramide treatment. These results, together with data from other studies on PDE3B and lipolysis in diabetic humans and animals, suggest a novel pathway by which ceramide induces insulin resistance. Furthermore, PDE3B is demonstrated to be a target for troglitazone action in adipocytes. Diabetes 51:631-637, 2002