{"doi":"10.33594/000000557","title":"Hyperglycemic Conditions Promote Rac1-Mediated Serine536 Phosphorylation of p65 Subunit of NFκB (RelA) in Pancreatic Beta Cells","abstract":"BACKGROUND/AIMS: We recently reported increased phosphorylation (at S536) of the p65 subunit of NFκB (Rel A) in pancreatic beta (INS-1 832/13) cells following exposure to hyperglycemic (HG) conditions. We also demonstrated that HG-induced S536 phosphorylation of p65 is downstream to the regulatory effects of CARD9 since deletion of CARD9 expression significantly attenuated HG-induced S536 phosphorylation of p65 in beta cells. The overall objective of the current investigation is to identify putative mechanisms underlying HG-induced phosphorylation of p65 in islet beta cells following exposure to HG conditions. METHODS: INS-1 832/13 cells were incubated in low glucose (LG; 2.5 mM) or high glucose (HG; 20 mM) containing media for 24 hours in the absence or presence of small molecule inhibitors of G protein prenylation and activation. Non-nuclear and nuclear fractions were isolated from INS-1 832/13 cells using a commercially available (NE-PER) kit. Degree of S536 phosphorylation of the p65 subunit was quantified by western blotting and densitometry. RESULTS: HG-induced p65 phosphorylation was significantly attenuated by inhibitors of protein prenylation (e.g., simvastatin and L-788,123). Pharmacological inhibition of Tiam1-Rac1 (e.g., NSC23766) and Vav2-Rac1 (e.g., Ehop-016) signaling pathways exerted minimal effects on HG-induced p65 phosphorylation. However, EHT-1864, a small molecule compound, which binds to Rac1 thereby preventing GDP/GTP exchange, markedly suppressed HG-induced p65 phosphorylation, suggesting that Rac1 activation is requisite for HG-mediated p65 phosphorylation. Lastly, EHT-1864 significantly inhibited nuclear association of STAT3, but not total p65, in INS-1 832/13 cells exposed to HG conditions. CONCLUSION: Activation of Rac1, a step downstream to HG-induced activation of CARD9, might represent a requisite signaling step in the cascade of events leading to HG-induced S536 phosphorylation of p65 and nuclear association of STAT3 in pancreatic beta cells. Data from these investigations further affirm the role(s) of Rac1 as a mediator of metabolic stress- induced dysfunction of the islet beta cell.","journal":"Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry","year":2022,"id":293194,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":2,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9546,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2022-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":793636,"name":"Suhadinie Gamage","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":793161,"name":"Mirabela Hali","orcid":"0000-0002-5155-7306","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":747122,"name":"Noah Gleason","orcid":"0000-0002-9696-4781","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":525674,"name":"Anjaneyulu Kowluru","orcid":"0000-0003-1700-0077","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":76,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T00:30:50.076284Z","pmid":"35981264","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}