Perfil de proteínas expressas no cerebelo de camundongo Balb/c tratados com uma dieta rica em carboidratos e tratados com glibenclamida

Abstract

Consuming diets rich in refined carbohydrates is a determining factor in increasing the risk of obesity, which can lead to increased insulin levels, influencing the deposition of body fat. To treat metabolic conditions associated with obesity, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, drugs like glibenclamide are often used. Although the cerebellum is best known for its motor functions, recent studies suggest its possible involvement in metabolic regulation and response to diets and pharmacological interventions. The present study aimed to evaluate the differential expression of proteins in the cerebellum of Balb/c mice fed a diet rich in refined carbohydrates, as well as the effect of glibenclamide treatment in these animals for eight weeks. For this purpose, cerebellar tissue was homogenized in buffer, and the supernatant was subjected to total protein assay. Aliquots of 20 µg of protein from the supernatant were analyzed by 12.5% SDSPAGE, and the gel was stained with Coomassie Blue R solution. The retention factor or relative mobility of the bands was measured based on the relative molecular mass standard. The gel image was processed using Scion Image software to analyze the optical density intensity. The results were given as mean and standard deviation and submitted to inferential statistical analysis using the t-test, considering p < 0.05 significant, and the proteins were predicted based on a review of the literature. The electrophoretic profile of the samples revealed the expression of eight proteins in the cerebellum of animals treated or not treated with the diet and/or glibenclamide. Of these, five bands were statistically significant, namely P1 (55.8 kDa), P3 (45.4 kDa), P6 (35.4 kDa), P7 (28.8 kDa), and P8 (26.5 kDa). For P1 and P3, glibenclamide reduced expression, while the diet increased it. The expression of P6 decreased with both treatments performed in isolation, while P7 decreased only with glibenclamide and P8 increased only with the diet. The prediction indicated that the identified proteins perform different functions, with most of them (28.2%) acting in events related to DNA and RNA, and other events (23.1%). It is concluded that both a carbohydrate-rich diet and treatment with glibenclamide promote changes in the cerebellar proteome when analyzed alone, while their combination did not result in significant changes in expression. Thus, the identified proteins become potential targets for complementary proteomic investigations and future in silico analyses, considering the ability of diet and glibenclamide to modulate their expression.