The effects of hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia on GLUT4 and hexokinase II mRNA and protein in rat skeletal muscle and adipose tissue.

The GLUT4 glucose transporter and type II hexokinase are predominantly expressed in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. The effects of insulin and glucose on the expression of GLUT4 and HKII were studied in vivo by using the euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic and hyperglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp methods. The clamps were maintained in conscious rats for 6 or 24 h after a 1-day starvation period. Adipose tissue GLUT4 mRNA was increased 4-fold after 6 h and 23-fold after 24 h of hyperinsulinemia; HKII mRNA was increased by four- and eightfold after 6 and 24 h, respectively. In contrast, GLUT4 mRNA was not significantly changed in skeletal muscle by either the euglycemic- or hyperglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamps. Each of these treatments resulted in a fourfold induction of HKII mRNA. No changes of GLUT4 protein and hexokinase activity were detected after 6 h of hyperinsulinemia in either skeletal muscle or adipose tissue. After 24 h of hyperinsulinemia, adipose tissue GLUT4 protein had doubled, whereas skeletal muscle GLUT4 was unchanged. In contrast, hexokinase activity increased by two- to eightfold in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. Hyperinsulinemia alone was sufficient to mediate the effects observed, because no additional effects were seen when hyperglycemia accompanied hyperinsulinemia. These results reveal the lack of coordinate regulation of GLUT4 and HKII in adipose tissue and skeletal muscle. Whereas hyperinsulinemia increases both GLUT4 and HKII mRNA and protein levels in adipose tissue, this treatment increases HKII mRNA and protein in skeletal muscle, but has no effect on GLUT4 in this tissue.

Activation of glucose transport by AMP-activated protein kinase via stimulation of nitric oxide synthase.

Glucose transport in skeletal muscle is stimulated by two distinct stimuli, insulin and exercise. The mechanism by which exercise stimulates glucose transport is not known, although it is distinct from the insulin-mediated pathway. Recently, it has been shown that AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is activated by exercise in skeletal muscle, whereas pharmacological activation of AMPK by 5-amino-4-imidazolecarboxamide riboside (AICAR) leads to increased glucose transport. It has been postulated, therefore, that AMPK may be the link between exercise and glucose transport. To address this, we have examined the signaling pathway involved in the stimulation of glucose uptake after activation of AMPK. Here we show that activation of AMPK by AICAR in rat muscle and mouse H-2Kb muscle cells activates glucose transport approximately twofold. AMPK in H-2Kb cells is also activated by hyperosmotic stress and the mitochondrial uncoupling agent, dinitrophenol, both of which lead to increased glucose transport. In contrast, insulin, which activates glucose transport two- to-threefold in both rat muscle and H-2Kb cells, has no effect on AMPK activity. A previous study has shown that AMPK phosphorylates and activates endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS). We show here that NOS activity in H-2Kb cells is activated after stimulation of AMPK by AICAR. Treatment of H-2Kb cells or rat muscle with NOS inhibitors completely blocks the increase in glucose transport after activation of AMPK. In addition, an inhibitor of guanylate cyclase also blocks activation of glucose transport by AICAR in H-2Kb cells. These results indicate that activation of AMPK in muscle cells stimulates glucose transport by activation of NOS coupled to downstream signaling components, including cyclic GMP.

In vivo effects of hyperinsulinemia on lipogenic enzymes and glucose transporter expression in rat liver and adipose tissues.

Chronic hyperinsulinemia with maintenance of euglycemia was imposed on normal rats for 4 days. In white adipose tissue, hyperinsulinemia resulted in a twofold increase in GLUT4 protein and mRNA and a sixfold to 15-fold increase in fatty acid synthase (FAS) and acetyl coenzyme A (CoA) carboxylase (ACC) activity, respectively. Lipogenic enzyme mRNA was also markedly increased (20- to 30-fold). This was specific for white adipose tissue and was not observed in brown adipose tissue. In the liver, hyperinsulinemia was accompanied by a threefold increase in glucokinase (GK) activity and mRNA and by a threefold to fivefold increase in lipogenic enzyme activities and mRNA. In agreement with the changes in lipogenic activities, lipogenesis was markedly increased in white adipose tissue and liver of hyperinsulinemic rats. The data strongly suggest that in the rat, insulin is a driving force leading to increased lipid synthesis in liver and white adipose tissue.

cAMP prevents the glucose-mediated stimulation of GLUT2 gene transcription in hepatocytes.

Glucose homoeostasis necessitates the presence in the liver of the high Km glucose transporter GLUT2. In hepatocytes, we and others have demonstrated that glucose stimulates GLUT2 gene expression in vivo and in vitro. This effect is transcriptionally regulated and requires glucose metabolism within the hepatocytes. In this report, we further characterized the cis-elements of the murine GLUT2 promoter, which confers glucose responsiveness on a reporter gene coding the chloramphenicol acetyl transferase (CAT) gene. 5'-Deletions of the murine GLUT2 promoter linked to the CAT reporter gene were transfected into a GLUT2 expressing hepatoma cell line (mhAT3F) and into primary cultured rat hepatocytes, and subsequently incubated at low and high glucose concentrations. Glucose stimulates gene transcription in a manner similar to that observed for the endogenous GLUT2 mRNA in both cell types; the -1308 to -212 bp region of the promoter contains the glucose-responsive elements. Furthermore, the -1308 to -338 bp region of the promoter contains repressor elements when tested in an heterologous thymidine kinase promoter. The glucose-induced GLUT2 mRNA accumulation was decreased by dibutyryl-cAMP both in mhAT3F cells and in primary hepatocytes. A putative cAMP-responsive element (CRE) is localized at the -1074/-1068 bp region of the promoter. The inhibitory effect of cAMP on GLUT2 gene expression was observed in hepatocytes transfected with constructs containing this CRE (-1308/+49 bp fragment), as well as with constructs not containing the consensus CRE (-312/+49 bp fragment). This suggests that the inhibitory effect of cAMP is not mediated by the putative binding site located in the repressor fragment of the GLUT2 promoter. Taken together, these data demonstrate that the elements conferring glucose and cAMP responsiveness on the GLUT2 gene are located within the -312/+49 region of the promoter.

Requirement of glucose metabolism for regulation of glucose transporter type 2 (GLUT2) gene expression in liver.

Previous studies have shown that glucose increases the glucose transporter (GLUT2) mRNA expression in the liver in vivo and in vitro. Here we report an analysis of the effects of glucose metabolism on GLUT2 gene expression. GLUT2 mRNA accumulation by glucose was not due to stabilization of its transcript but rather was a direct effect on gene transcription. A proximal fragment of the 5' regulatory region of the mouse GLUT2 gene linked to a reporter gene was transiently transfected into liver GLUT2-expressing cells. Glucose stimulated reporter gene expression in these cells, suggesting that glucose-responsive elements were included within the proximal region of the promoter. A dose-dependent effect of glucose on GLUT2 expression was observed over 10 mM glucose irrespective of the hexokinase isozyme (glucokinase K(m) 16 mM; hexokinase I K(m) 0.01 mM) present in the cell type used. This suggests that the correlation between extracellular glucose and GLUT2 mRNA concentrations is simply a reflection of an activation of glucose metabolism. The mediators and the mechanism responsible for this response remain to be determined. In conclusion, glucose metabolism is required for the proper induction of the GLUT2 gene in the liver and this effect is transcriptionally regulated.

An unusual high-Km hexokinase is expressed in the mhAT3F hepatoma cell line.

In most hepatoma cells, the high-Km GLUT2/glucokinase proteins are replaced by the ubiquitous low-Km GLUT1/hexokinase type I proteins. In the mhAT3F hepatoma cells, the stimulatory effect of glucose on gene expression and glycogen accumulation was not maximal at 5 mmol/liter glucose. This response to high glucose is observed in mhAT3F cells, where GLUT2 was expressed, but not glucokinase (assessed by Northern blotting and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction). A low-Km hexokinase activity (19.6 +/- 3.8 milliunits/mg of protein) was present, but a high-Km (40 mmol/liter) hexokinase activity (13.9 +/- 2.5 milliunits/mg) was also detected in mhAT3F cells. The high-Km hexokinase activity was dependent on both ATP (or PPi) and glucose in the assay and was recovered in a 10-50-kDa fraction after filtration. A 30-kDa protein was detected using an anti-glucokinase antibody and localized by confocal microscopy at the same sites as glucokinase in hepatocytes. In FAO cells, the high-Km hexokinase activity and 30-kDa protein were not found. We conclude that a high-Km hexokinase activity is present in mhAT3F cells. This might explain why the effects of glucose on gene expression were not maximal at a glucose concentration of 5 mmol/liter. A 30-kDa protein identified using an anti-glucokinase antibody may be responsible for this activity present in mhAT3F cells.

Biochemical localisation of the 5-HT2A (serotonin) receptor in rat skeletal muscle.

The 5-HT2A receptor was recently shown to localise morphologically to the transverse tubules (TT) in rat foetal myoblasts. Receptor activation enhanced the expression of genes involved in myogenesis, and its TT localisation has led to the suggestion that it may participate in excitation-contraction coupling. In order to gain further insights into 5-HT2A receptor function in muscle we have (i) investigated its biochemical localisation in adult rat skeletal muscle and (ii) determined whether receptor expression is dependent upon muscle type. Immunoblot analysis of muscle membranes, isolated by subcellular fractionation, revealed that adult muscle expresses the 5-HT2A receptor and that it resides exclusively in plasma membranes and not in TT. No differences in 5-HT2A abundance were observed between red and white muscle, suggesting that receptor expression does not correlate with the metabolic or contractile properties of the muscle fibre. Our data indicate that 5-HT2A expression in skeletal muscle is maintained into adulthood and that its absence from TT make it an unlikely participant in the excitation-contraction coupling process.

Evidence for a transient inhibitory effect of insulin on GLUT2 expression in the liver: studies in vivo and in vitro.

The glucose transporter GLUT2 is expressed predominantly in the liver. Previous studies have shown that glucose increases GLUT2 mRNA concentration in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes. Since insulin controls the glucose metabolism in the liver, it could be involved in the regulation of GLUT2 gene expression. In vivo, hyperinsulinaemia induced a transient inhibitory effect on liver GLUT2 gene expression, the maximal inhibition of GLUT2 mRNA concentration (93 +/- 6%) being observed after 6 h. When hyperglycaemia was associated with hyperinsulinaemia, the decrease in liver GLUT2 mRNA concentration was partially prevented. The respective effects of glucose and insulin were studied in vitro by primary culture of rat hepatocytes. Insulin alone exerted a transient inhibitory effect on GLUT2 mRNA concentration. When insulin and glucose (10-20 mM) were associated, the stimulatory effect of glucose on GLUT2 gene expression was predominant. In conclusion, the present study shows that GLUT2 mRNA concentration was conversely regulated by insulin and glucose, both in vitro and in vivo.

Serotonin (5-Hydroxytryptamine), a novel regulator of glucose transport in rat skeletal muscle.

In this study we show that serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)) causes a rapid stimulation in glucose uptake by approximately 50% in both L6 myotubes and isolated rat skeletal muscle. This activation is mediated via the 5-HT2A receptor, which is expressed in L6, rat, and human skeletal muscle. In L6 cells, expression of the 5-HT2A receptor is developmentally regulated based on the finding that receptor abundance increases by over 3-fold during differentiation from myoblasts to myotubes. Stimulation of the 5-HT2A receptor using methylserotonin (m-HT), a selective 5-HT2A agonist, increased muscle glucose uptake in a manner similar to that seen in response to 5-HT. The agonist-mediated stimulation in glucose uptake was attributable to an increase in the plasma membrane content of GLUT1, GLUT3, and GLUT4. The stimulatory effects of 5-HT and m-HT were suppressed in the presence of submicromolar concentrations of ketanserin (a selective 5-HT2A antagonist) providing further evidence that the increase in glucose uptake was specifically mediated via the 5-HT2A receptor. Treatment of L6 cells with insulin resulted in tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS1, increased cellular production of phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-phosphate and a 41-fold activation in protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) activity. In contrast, m-HT did not modulate IRS1, phosphoinositide 3-kinase, or PKB activity. The present results indicate that rat and human skeletal muscle both express the 5-HT2A receptor and that 5-HT and specific 5-HT2A agonists can rapidly stimulate glucose uptake in skeletal muscle by a mechanism which does not depend upon components that participate in the insulin signaling pathway.