D-Glucose modulates intestinal Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 (NPC1L1) gene expression via transcriptional regulation

The expression of intestinal Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 (NPC1L1) cholesterol transporter has been shown to be elevated in patients with diseases associated with hypercholesterolemia such as diabetes mellitus. High levels of glucose were shown to directly increase the expression of NPC1L1 in intestinal epithelial cells, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully defined. The present studies were, therefore, undertaken to examine the transcriptional regulation of NPC1L1 expression in human intestinal Caco2 cells in response to glucose. Removal of glucose from the culture medium of Caco2 cells for 24 h significantly decreased the NPC1L1 mRNA, protein expression, as well as the promoter activity. Glucose replenishment significantly increased the promoter activity of NPC1L1 in a dose-dependent manner compared with control cells. Exposure of Caco2 cells to nonmetabolizable form of glucose, 3-O-methyl-d-glucopyranose (OMG) had no effect on NPC1L1 promoter activity, indicating that the observed effects are dependent on glucose metabolism. Furthermore, glucose-mediated increase in promoter activity was abrogated in the presence of okadaic acid, suggesting the involvement of protein phosphatases. Glucose effects on several deletion constructs of NPC1L1 promoter demonstrated that cis elements mediating the effects of glucose are located in the region between -291 and +56 of NPC1L1 promoter. Consistent with the effects of glucose removal on NPC1L1 expression in Caco2 cells, 24-h fasting resulted in a significant decrease in the relative expression of NPC1L1 in mouse jejunum. In conclusion, glucose appears to directly modulate NPC1L1 expression via transcriptional mechanisms and the involvement of phosphatase-dependent pathways.