Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of TCF2 overexpression on insulin resistance in HepG2 cells. Methods HepG2 cells were treated with high concentration of insulin (1×10-8 mol/L) for 24 hours to induce insulin resistance (IR). Cells were divided into four groups: control group, IR group, IR+vector group and IR+TCF2 overexpression group. RT-qPCR and Western blot were performed to detect the expression of TCF2. Glucose consumption and glycogen synthesis were assayed by glucose oxidase method and anthrone method, respectively. Cell viability was evaluated by MTT assay. The activities of hexokinase and pyruvate kinase were detected by colorimetry. The protein level of IRS-1 and GLUT4 was detected by Western blot. Results Compared with control group, the decreased glucose consumption was observed in IR group (P<0.05), indicating that insulin-resistance model was established successfully. The mRNA and protein expression of TCF2 was remarkably down-regulated in IR group compared with control group. Compared with IR group, overexpression of TCF2 significantly improved glucose consumption, liver glycogen content, and the activities of hexokinase and pyruvate kinase (P<0.05). Moreover, TCF2 overexpression up-regulated the protein expression of IRS-1 and GLUT4 (P<0.05). Conclusion TCF2 overexpression ameliorates insulin resistance of HepG2 cells．

Key words: TCF2, insulin resistance, HepG2 cells