Nicotinamide ameliorates palmitate-induced ER stress in hepatocytes via cAMP/PKA/CREB pathway-dependent Sirt1 upregulation

•Initial report that nicotinamide protects hepatocytes against palmitate-induced ER stress.•Nicotinamide upregulates Sirt1 expression and activity in hepatocytes.•Sirt1 upregulation mechanistically contributes to amelioration of ER stress.•Nicotinamide increases cellular cAMP level via suppressing PDE activity.•The cAMP/PKA/CREB pathway activation contributes to nicotinamide-induced Sirt1 upregulation.

Nicotinamide (NAM) is the amide of nicotinic acid and a predominant precursor for NAD+ biosynthesis via the salvage pathway. Sirt1 is a NAD+-dependent deacetylase, playing an important role in regulating cellular functions. Although hepatoprotective effect of NAM has been reported, the underlying mechanism remains elusive. ER stress, induced by saturated fatty acids, in specific palmitate, plays a pathological role in the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. This study aims to determine the effect of NAM on palmitate-induced ER stress in hepatocytes and to elucidate molecular mechanisms behind. Both HepG2 cells and primary mouse hepatocytes were exposed to palmitate (conjugated to BSA at a 2:1 M ratio), NAM, or their combination for different durations. Cellular NAD+ level, Sirt1 expression/activity, ER stress, as well as cAMP/PKA/CREB pathway activation were determined. NAM increased Sirt1 expression and enzymatic activity, which contributes to the ameliorative effect of NAM on palmitate-triggered ER stress. NAM increased intracellular NAD+ level in hepatocytes, however, blocking the salvage pathway, a pathway for NAD+ synthesis from NAM, only partially prevented NAM-induced Sirt1 upregulation while completely prevented NAD+ increase in response to NAM. Further mechanistic investigations revealed that NAM elevated intracellular cAMP level via suppressing PDE activity, leading to downstream PKA and CREB activation. Importantly, cAMP/PKA/CREB pathway blockade abolished not only NAM-induced Sirt1 upregulation, but also its protective effect against ER stress. Our results demonstrate that NAM protects hepatocytes against palmitate-induced ER stress in hepatocytes via upregulating Sirt1. Activation of the cAMP/PKA/CREB pathway plays a key role in NAM-induced Sirt1 upregulation.