Figure 3

p53 enhances gluconeogenesis-related gene expression and augments hepatic glucose production (HGP). (A) HepG2 cells were treated with the p53-activating agent Nutlin-3a (10μM) for 24 hours, total RNA was extracted and the mRNA levels of the indicated genes were analyzed in qPCR analysis (as described in [4]). The primers used for qPCR are described in Additional file 1. (B) Densely-plated HepG2 cells were incubated in glucogenic medium [15] for 24 hours. Glucose secretion to the media was measured by the glucose oxidase colorimetric method. (C) Hepatocytes were isolated and incubated in gluconeogenic medium [15] for 4 hours. Glucose secretion to the media was measured by the glucose oxidase colorimetric method. All presented data are representative experiments from at least three repeats. Each bar represents an average of three triplicates. Columns marked with asterisks denote a significant (P <0.05) elevation, measured by a student’s t-test compared to unmarked columns. qPCR, quantitative PCR.