Microglial activation plays an important role in neurodegenerative diseases.Once activated,they have macrophage-like capabilities,which can be beneficial by phagocytosis and harmful by se-cretion of neurotoxins.However,the resident microglia always fail to trigger an effective pha-gocytic response to clear dead cells or Aβdeposits during the progression of neurodegeneration.Therefore,the regulation of microglial phagocytosis is considered a useful strategy in searchingfor neuroprotective treatments.In this study,our results showed that low-power laser iradiation(LPLI)(20 J/cm²)could enhance microglial phagocytic function in LPS-activated microglia.Wefound that LPLI-mediated microglial phagocytosis is a Rac-1-dependent actin-based process,that a constitutively activated form of Rac1(RaclQ61L)induced a higher level of actin pol-ymerization than cells transfected with wild-type Racl,whereas a dominant negative form ofRacl(RaclT17N)markedly suppressed actin polymerization.In addition,the involvement of Racl activation after LPLI treatment was also observed by using a Raichu fluorescence resonance energy transfer(FRET)-based biosensor.We also found that PI3K/Akt pathway was required inthe LPLI-induced Raci activation.Our research may provide a feasible therapeutic approach tocontrol the progression of neurodegenerative diseases.
Insulin resistance is a hallmark of the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.Dysfunction of PI-3K/Akt signaling was involved in insulin resistance.Glucose transporter 4(GLUT4)is a keyfactor for glucose uptake in muscle and adipose tissues,which is closely regulated by Pi-3K/Aktsignaling in response to insulin treatment.Low-power laser irradiation(LPLI)has been shown toregulate various physiological processes and induce the synthesis or release of multiple moleculessuch as growth factors,which(especially red and near infrared light)is mainly through theactivation of mitochondrial respiratory chain and the initiation of intracellular signaling path-ways.Nevertheless,it is unclear whether LPLI could promote glucose uptake through activationof PI-3K/Akt/GLUT4 signaling in 3T3L-1 adipocytes.In this study,we investigated how LPLIpromoted glucose uptake through activation of PI-3K/Akt/GLUT4 signaling path way.Here,we showed that GLUT4 was localized to the Golgi apparatus and translocated from cytoplasm tocytomembrane upon LPLI treatment in 3T3L-1 adipocytes,which enhanced glucose uptake.Moreover,we found that glucose uptake was mediated by the PI3-K/Akt2 signaling,but notAkt1 upon LPLI treatment with Akt isoforms gene silence and PI3-K/Akt inhibitors.Collec-tively,our results indicate that PI3-K/Akt2/GLUT4 signaling act as the key regulators forimprovement of glucose uptake under LPLI treatment in 3T3L-i adipocytes.More importantly,our findings suggest that activation of PI3-K/Akt2/GLUT4 signaling by LPLI may provideguidance in practical applications for promotion of glucose uptake in insulin-resistant adiposetissue.
