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Updated: Jun 6, 2026

An Improved Time- and Labor- Efficient Protocol for Mouse Primary Hepatocyte Isolation
Published on: October 25, 2021
The coactivator SRC-1 is an essential coordinator of hepatic glucose production
Jean-Francois Louet1, Atul R Chopra, Jorn V Sagen
1Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Abstract:
Gluconeogenesis makes a major contribution to hepatic glucose production, a process critical for survival in mammals. In this study, we identify the p160 family member, SRC-1, as a key coordinator of the hepatic gluconeogenic program in vivo. SRC-1-null mice displayed hypoglycemia secondary to a deficit in hepatic glucose production. Selective re-expression of SRC-1 in the liver restored blood glucose levels to a normal range. SRC-1 was found induced upon fasting to coordinate in a cell-autonomous manner, the gene expression of rate-limiting enzymes of the gluconeogenic pathway. At the molecular level, the main role of SRC-1 was to modulate the expression and the activity of C/EBPα through a feed-forward loop in which SRC-1 used C/EBPα to transactivate pyruvate carboxylase, a crucial gene for initiation of the gluconeogenic program. We propose that SRC-1 acts as a critical mediator of glucose homeostasis in the liver by adjusting the transcriptional activity of key genes involved in the hepatic glucose production machinery.
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