Role of Nitric Oxide (NO) on Zinc-promoted Adipocyte Differentiation

Abstract

We have reported that zinc promotes differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. The objective of the present experiment was to investigate the effect of zinc on NO production and the effect of NO on the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes. NO metabolites concentration was decreased by the addition of 1μM zinc into the medium. NO donors such as SNP and NOC18 suppressed glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) activity, a marker of adipocyte differentiation,in dose-dependent manner. A NOS inhibitor (L-NAME) significantly increased GPDH activity. These results suggested that preadipocytes produced NO during differentiation,NO autocrinically inhibited adipocyte differentiation, and zinc promoted adipocyte differentiation through inhibiting NO production of preadipocytes.