Effects of Rapamycin on Insulin Brain Endothelial Cell Binding and Blood–Brain Barrier Transport

Nguyen, Steven and Banks, William A. and Rhea, Elizabeth M. (2021) Effects of Rapamycin on Insulin Brain Endothelial Cell Binding and Blood–Brain Barrier Transport. Medical Sciences, 9 (3). p. 56. ISSN 2076-3271

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Abstract

Rapamycin is an exogenous compound that has been shown to improve cognition in Alzheimer’s disease mouse models and can regulate pathways downstream of the insulin receptor signaling pathway. Insulin is also known to improve cognition in rodent models of Alzheimer’s disease. Central nervous system (CNS) insulin must first cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB), a specialized network of brain endothelial cells. This transport process is regulated by physiological factors, such as insulin itself, triglycerides, cytokines, and starvation. Since rapamycin treatment can alter the metabolic state of rodents, increase the circulating triglycerides, and acts as a starvation mimetic, we hypothesized rapamycin could alter the rate of insulin transport across the BBB, providing a potential mechanism for the beneficial effects of rapamycin on cognition. Using young male and female CD-1 mice, we measured the effects of rapamycin on the basal levels of serum factors, insulin receptor signaling, vascular binding, and BBB pharmacokinetics. We found chronic rapamycin treatment was able to affect basal levels of circulating serum factors and endothelial cell insulin receptor signaling. In addition, while acute rapamycin treatment did affect insulin binding at the BBB, overall transport was unaltered. Chronic rapamycin slowed insulin BBB transport non-significantly (p = 0.055). These results suggest that rapamycin may not directly impact the transport of insulin at the BBB but could be acting to alter insulin signaling within brain endothelial cells, which can affect downstream signaling.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: rapamycin; insulin; blood–brain barrier
Subjects: Library Eprints > Medical Science
Depositing User: Managing Editor
Date Deposited: 10 Nov 2022 05:26
Last Modified: 02 Sep 2024 06:46
URI: http://news.pacificarchive.com/id/eprint/76

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