Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Feb;381(2):171-86.
doi: 10.1007/s00210-009-0477-x. Epub 2009 Dec 11.

Metformin increases phagocytosis and acidifies lysosomal/endosomal compartments in AMPK-dependent manner in rat primary microglia

Krzysztof Labuzek  1 , Sebastian Liber, Bozena Gabryel, Jakub Adamczyk, Bogusław Okopień
Affiliations

Metformin increases phagocytosis and acidifies lysosomal/endosomal compartments in AMPK-dependent manner in rat primary microglia

Krzysztof Labuzek et al. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2010 Feb.

Erratum in

Abstract

Recent evidence suggests that metformin shows beneficial effects in experimental models of neuroinflammatory diseases. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of metformin on phagocytosis and acidification of lysosomal/endosomal compartments in rat primary microglia in the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and/or beta-peptides (25-35), (1-40), and (1-42). Metformin increased the phagocytosis of fluorescent microspheres in the presence or absence of all the beta-peptides. However, the drug had no effect on the phagocytosis in LPS-stimulated microglia regardless of the presence of all the beta-peptides. Metformin acidified the lysosomal/endosomal compartments in the presence or absence of the beta-peptide 1-40 in both resting and activated microglia. To elucidate the mechanism of metformin action, we used 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-beta-D-ribofuranoside as an activator of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and compound C as a confirmed pharmacological inhibitor of AMPK. We have shown that metformin increased AMPK activity in microglial cells and that all observed effects are AMPK-dependent because the pretreatment of microglia with compound C reversed the effects of the drug. Since degradation of proteins in lysosomal/endosomal compartments depends largely on their phagocytosis and acidification, metformin may be beneficial in proteinopathies affecting the brain.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. J Biol Chem. 1996 Nov 1;271(44):27879-87 - PubMed
    1. Endocrinology. 2007 Nov;148(11):5220-9 - PubMed
    1. J Mol Neurosci. 2008;34(1):77-87 - PubMed
    1. Circ Res. 2007 Feb 16;100(3):328-41 - PubMed
    1. Diabetes. 2005 Jul;54(7):2227-34 - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

-