LncRNAH19 improves insulin resistance in skeletal muscle by regulating heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1

BACKGROUND: Skeletal muscle is essential for glucose and lipid metabolism. Growing evidence reveals the importance of long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) in metabolism. This study aimed to investigate the function of LncRNA H19 (H19) in lipid metabolism of skeletal muscle and its potential mechanisms. METHODS: Glucose tolerance, serum insulin and lipid content in serum and skeletal muscle were determined in control and H19-overexpressed db/db mice. Lipid metabolism was evaluated in H19-overexpressed or H19-silencing muscle cells by detecting lipid contents and mitochondria related functions. The underlying mechanisms were explored by RNA pull-down, mass spectrometry and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP). RESULTS: H19 was downregulated in skeletal muscle of db/db mice. H19 overexpression in db/db mice inhibited lipid ectopic deposition in skeletal muscle, meanwhile improved glucose intolerance and insulin resistance as compared with control db/db mice treated with ad-GFP. Furthermore, overexpression of H19 reversed FFA-induced lipid accumulation and increased cellular respiration in muscle cells, while H19 knockdown exhibited opposite effects in muscle cells. Mechanistically, H19 interacted with heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNPA1) which was validated by RNA pulldown and RIP analysis, which increased translation of fatty acid oxidation closely related genes PGC1a and CPT1b. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that overexpression of H19 ameliorates insulin resistance by reducing ectopic lipid accumulation in skeletal muscle. The possible underlying mechanisms are that overexpression of lncRNAH19 promotes fatty acids oxidation via targeting of hnRNPA1. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary information accompanies this paper at 10.1186/s12964-020-00654-2.