Effect of CuO NPs (CuO Nanoparticles) on Glucose Metabolism in HepG2

The widespread use of nanomaterials has raised concerns about their potential harm. In order to explore the effect of nanomaterials on glucose metabolism, this article selected human liver cancer cell HepG2 as the subject to conduct in vitro experiments to study the effect of CuO NPs (CuO nanoparticles) on glucose metabolism in HepG2 cells. Experiments had shown that CuO NPs exposure could inhibit HepG2 cell viability, reduce cell survival, and significantly reduce the absorption of extracellular glucose and the content of glycogen in HepG2 cells. The RT-qPCR (real-time quantitative PCR) was used to detect the expression of key genes in the process of glucose metabolism. It was found that after exposure to CuO NPs, the expression of PYGL (glycogen phosphorylase), an important gene for glycogen synthesis in HepG2 cells, was significantly down-regulated, while the expression of gys2 (glycogen synthase 2) was first up-regulated and then significantly inhibited. In addition, genes related to glucose transport, glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, and TCA cycle also changed to varying degrees under exposure to different concentrations of CuO NPs. In summary, after exposure to CuO NPs, the survival rate of HepG2 cells decreases, the absorption of extracellular glucose reduces, glycogen synthesis and decomposition are affected, and the two processes of glycolysis and gluconeogenesis are inhibited at the same time. High concentrations can even cause intracellular disorders of glucose metabolism.

CSTR: 32200.14.cjcb.2021.08.0005