Co-regulation of SREBP-1 and mTOR ameliorates lipid accumulation in kidney of diabetic mice

SREBP-1 and mTOR have been proved to involve in renal lipid metabolism of diabetes mellitus. In the present study, we investigated the effect of co-regulation of SREBP-1 and mTOR on renal lipid metabolism using diabetic mice and cultured renal tubular cells. The results showed that compared with those in high glucose-stimulated HKC cells single transfected with shRNA-SREBP-1 vector, the level of SREBP-1 protein were significantly reduced by 64.1% followed by decreased FASN mRNA, ACC mRNA, ADRP protein and lipid droplets in HKC cells co-transfected with shRNA-SREBP-1 vector and kinase-dead mTOR vector. Furthermore, diabetic mice co-injected with shRNA-SREBP-1 vector and kinase-dead mTOR vector showed that renal SREBP-1 protein, FASN mRNA and ACC mRNA were respectively decreased by 34.6%, 45.9%, 22.0% in comparison with those in diabetic mice single injected with shRNA-SREBP-1 vector accompanied by reduced ADRP protein and triglyceride content. In the end our study suggests that co-regulation of SREBP-1 and mTOR in kidney of diabetic mice is more effective in lowering renal lipogenesis than only regulation of SREBP-1.