Centipede grass exerts anti-adipogenic activity through inhibition of C/EBPβ, C/EBPα, and PPARγ expression and the AKT signaling pathway in 3T3-L1 adipocytes

BACKGROUND: Centipede grass (CG) originates from China and South America and is reported to contain several C-glycosyl flavones and phenolic constituents, including maysin and luteolin derivatives. This study aimed to investigate, for the first time, the antiobesity activity of CG and its potential molecular mechanism in 3T3-L1 cells. METHODS: To study the effect of CG on adipogenesis, differentiating 3T3-L1 cells were treated every day with CG at various concentrations (0-100 μg/ml) for six days. Oil-red O staining and triglyceride content assay were performed to determine the lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 cells. The expression of mRNAs or proteins associated with adipogenesis was measured using RT-PCR and Western blotting analysis. We examined the effect of CG on level of phosphorylated Akt in 3T3-L1 cells treated with CG at various concentration s during adipocyte differentiation. RESULTS: Differentiation was investigated with an Oil-red O staining assay using CG-treated 3T3-L1 adipocytes. We found that CG suppressed lipid droplet formation and adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Treatment of the 3T3-L1 adipocytes with CG resulted in an attenuation of the expression of adipogenesis-related factors and lipid metabolic genes. The expression of C/EBPα and PPARγ, the central transcriptional regulators of adipogenesis, was decreased by the treatment with CG. The expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism, aP2 were significantly inhibited following the CG treatment. Moreover, the CG treatment down-regulated the phosphorylation levels of Akt and GSK3β. CONCLUSIONS: Taken collectively, these data indicated that CG exerts antiadipogenic activity by inhibiting the expression of C/EBPβ, C/EBPα, and PPARγ and the Akt signaling pathway in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.