Professor Lu Yingjian’s team from Nanjing University of Finance and Economics published a cover article in JAFC, revealing that sulforaphane activates insulin and FGF21 by inhibiting JNK.

On October 28, 2021, the team of Professor Lu Yingjian from the School of Food Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics published a cover article "Sulforaphane regulates glucose and lipid metabolisms in obese mice by restraining JNK and activating insulin and FGF21 Signal" in the 69th issue of Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry pathways"
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The paper is based on Nanjing University of Finance and Economics as the first unit, Tian Shuhua is the first author, and Lu Yingjian is the corresponding author
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Sulforaphane is an isothiocyanate extracted from cruciferous plants.
It has anti-cancer, anti-oxidant, and preventive effects on obesity and diabetes.
However, it regulates glucose and lipid metabolism and improves the mechanism of obesity-induced metabolic syndrome.
It has not been studied in depth yet
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The research results of Professor Lu Yingjian’s team show that sulforaphane mainly reduces the release of LPS (lipopolysaccharide) in the blood to alleviate the release of inflammation, thereby inhibiting the phosphorylation of JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase), leading to the blockade of JNK
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The inactivation of JNK will increase the tyrosine phosphorylation site of IRS (insulin receptor substrate), thereby promoting the phosphorylation of AKT (Ser473) (protein kinase B) to activate the insulin signaling pathway
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The activation of the insulin signaling pathway can promote hepatic glycogen synthesis by promoting the phosphorylation of GSK3β (Ser9) (glycogen synthase kinase 3β), inhibit G6PC (glucose-6-phosphatase), PCK1 (phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylate) Kinase 1) and FOXO1 enzyme activity to inhibit liver gluconeogenesis, while reducing the activity of SREBP-1 (sterol regulatory element binding protein-1) and FAS (fatty acid synthase) enzymes to reduce lipid synthesis
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In addition, sulforaphane can also alleviate obesity by alleviating FGF21 (fibroblast growth factor 21) resistance
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The results of this study may provide a potentially effective method for alleviating symptoms and maintaining energy homeostasis in patients with metabolic syndrome
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Corresponding author profile

Professor Lu Yingjian

Lu Yingjian, male, professor of the School of Food Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, doctoral supervisor, associate editor of the international SCI magazine "Food Science & Nutrition" (IF=1.

(1) Nutrition and metabolic regulation: study the mechanism of dietary nutrients and functional factors to prevent metabolic syndrome at the molecular, cellular and overall levels, and provide theoretical and technical support for the early prevention of nutrition-related chronic diseases and nutritional intervention;

(2) Food functional factors and industrialization: discovery and structural analysis of new food functional factors; enrichment of food functional factors and systematic evaluation of biological activities; synthetic biology research on the use of microorganisms to produce plant-derived functional factors; research and development of applications with value Functional food to prevent metabolic syndrome;

(3) Food quality and safety: research and development of food-grade microbial source antibacterial substances; development of high-throughput rapid detection and analysis technology for food nutrition and metabolic biomarkers and food safety hazard factors; food safety risk assessment

In recent years, he has presided over 1 food safety project (16.