VAMP2, but not VAMP3/cellubrevin, mediates insulin-dependent incorporation of GLUT4 into the plasma membrane of L6 myoblasts.

Like neuronal synaptic vesicles, intracellular GLUT4-containing vesicles must dock and fuse with the plasma membrane, thereby facilitating insulin-regulated glucose uptake into muscle and fat cells. GLUT4 colocalizes in part with the vesicle SNAREs VAMP2 and VAMP3. In this study, we used a single-cell fluorescence-based assay to compare the functional involvement of VAMP2 and VAMP3 in GLUT4 translocation. Transient transfection of proteolytically active tetanus toxin light chain cleaved both VAMP2 and VAMP3 proteins in L6 myoblasts stably expressing exofacially myc-tagged GLUT4 protein and inhibited insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation. Tetanus toxin also caused accumulation of the remaining C-terminal VAMP2 and VAMP3 portions in Golgi elements. This behavior was exclusive to these proteins, because the localization of intracellular myc-tagged GLUT4 protein was not affected by the toxin. Upon cotransfection of tetanus toxin with individual vesicle SNARE constructs, only toxin-resistant VAMP2 rescued the inhibition of insulin-dependent GLUT4 translocation by tetanus toxin. Moreover, insulin caused a cortical actin filament reorganization in which GLUT4 and VAMP2, but not VAMP3, were clustered. We propose that VAMP2 is a resident protein of the insulin-sensitive GLUT4 compartment and that the integrity of this protein is required for GLUT4 vesicle incorporation into the cell surface in response to insulin.

Stimulation of glucose uptake by the natural coenzyme alpha-lipoic acid/thioctic acid: participation of elements of the insulin signaling pathway.

Thioctic acid (alpha-lipoic acid), a natural cofactor in dehydrogenase complexes, is used in Germany in the treatment of symptoms of diabetic neuropathy. Thioctic acid improves insulin-responsive glucose utilization in rat muscle preparations and during insulin clamp studies performed in diabetic individuals. The aim of this study was to determine the direct effect of thioctic acid on glucose uptake and glucose transporters. In L6 muscle cells and 3T3-L1 adipocytes in culture, glucose uptake was rapidly increased by (R)-thioctic acid. The increment was higher than that elicited by the (S)-isomer or the racemic mixture and was comparable with that caused by insulin. In parallel to insulin action, the stimulation of glucose uptake by thioctic acid was abolished by wortmannin, an inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, in both cell lines. Thioctic acid provoked an upward shift of the glucose-uptake insulin dose-response curve. The molar content of GLUT1 and GLUT4 transporters was measured in both cell lines. 3T3-L1 adipocytes were shown to have >10 times more glucose transporters but similar ratios of GLUT4:GLUT1 than L6 myotubes. The effect of (R)-thioctic acid on glucose transporters was studied in the L6 myotubes. Its stimulatory effect on glucose uptake was associated with an intracellular redistribution of GLUT1 and GLUT4 glucose transporters, similar to that caused by insulin, with minimal effects on GLUT3 transporters. In conclusion, thioctic acid stimulates basal glucose transport and has a positive effect on insulin-stimulated glucose uptake. The stimulatory effect is dependent on phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase activity and may be explained by a redistribution of glucose transporters. This is evidence that a physiologically relevant compound can stimulate glucose transport via the insulin signaling pathway.

The antihyperglycemic drug alpha-lipoic acid stimulates glucose uptake via both GLUT4 translocation and GLUT4 activation: potential role of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase in GLUT4 activation.

The cofactor of mitochondrial dehydrogenase complexes and potent antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid has been shown to lower blood glucose in diabetic animals. alpha-Lipoic acid enhances glucose uptake and GLUT1 and GLUT4 translocation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and L6 myotubes, mimicking insulin action. In both cell types, insulin-stimulated glucose uptake is reduced by inhibitors of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). Here we explore the effect of alpha-lipoic acid on p38 MAPK, phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase, and Akt1 in L6 myotubes. alpha-Lipoic acid (2.5 mmol/l) increased PI 3-kinase activity (31-fold) and Akt1 (4.9-fold). Both activities were inhibited by 100 nmol/l wortmannin. alpha-Lipoic acid also stimulated p38 MAPK phosphorylation by twofold within 10 min. The phosphorylation persisted for at least 30 min. Like insulin, alpha-lipoic acid increased the kinase activity of the alpha (2.8-fold) and beta (2.1-fold) isoforms of p38 MAPK, measured by an in vitro kinase assay. Treating cells with 10 micromol/l of the p38 MAPK inhibitors SB202190 or SB203580 reduced the alpha-lipoic acid-induced stimulation of glucose uptake by 66 and 55%, respectively. In contrast, SB202474, a structural analog that does not inhibit p38 MAPK, was without effect on glucose uptake. In contrast to 2-deoxyglucose uptake, translocation of GLUT4myc to the cell surface by either alpha-lipoic acid or insulin was unaffected by 20 micromol/l of SB202190 or SB203580. The results suggest that inhibition of 2-deoxyglucose uptake in response to alpha-lipoic acid by inhibitors of p38 MAPK is independent of an effect on GLUT4 translocation. Instead, it is likely that regulation of transporter activity is sensitive to these inhibitors.

Muscle subcellular localization and recruitment by insulin of glucose transporters and Na+-K+-ATPase subunits in transgenic mice overexpressing the GLUT4 glucose transporter.

Insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in skeletal muscle is mediated through the GLUT4 glucose transporter. Transgenic (TG) mice overexpressing human GLUT4 in skeletal muscle show an increased ability to handle a glucose load. Here, the participation of the overexpressed GLUT4 in the response to insulin was examined. In TG mouse muscle, the GLUT4 protein content was 10-fold higher in crude membrane (CM), sevenfold higher in internal membrane (IM), and 15-fold higher in a plasma membrane (PM)-rich fraction, relative to non-TG littermates. This suggested partial saturation of the normal sorting mechanisms. The distribution and abundance of the GLUT1 glucose transporter was not affected. Insulin injection (4.3 U/kg body wt) increased GLUT4 in the PM-rich fraction; the increase was threefold higher in TG than in non-TG mice. Insulin decreased the GLUT4 content of the IM in both animal groups and of a second, heavier intracellular membrane fraction only in TG mice. The net content of Na+-K+-pump subunits was 40-65% lower in CM from TG compared with non-TG littermates. In spite of this, insulin caused a three- to sixfold higher translocation of the alpha2 and beta1 subunits of the Na+-K+-pump in TG compared with non-TG animals. The results suggest that overexpression of GLUT4 confers to the muscle increased ability to translocate subunits of the Na+-K+-pump either as a direct consequence of the recruitment of glucose transporters or as an adaptation to the more demanding metabolic state.

Activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase alpha and beta by insulin and contraction in rat skeletal muscle: potential role in the stimulation of glucose transport.

The stress-activated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) was recently shown to be activated by insulin in muscle and adipose cells in culture. Here, we explore whether such stimulation is observed in rat skeletal muscle and whether muscle contraction can also affect the enzyme. Insulin injection (2 U over 3.5 min) resulted in increases in p38 MAPK phosphorylation measured in soleus (3.2-fold) and quadriceps (2.2-fold) muscles. Increased phosphorylation (3.5-fold) of an endogenous substrate of p38 MAPK, cAMP response element binder (CREB), was also observed. After in vivo insulin treatment, p38 MAPKalpha and p38 MAPKbeta isoforms were found to be activated (2.1- and 2.4-fold, respectively), using an in vitro kinase assay, in immunoprecipitates from quadriceps muscle extracts. In vitro insulin treatment (1 nmol/l over 4 min) and electrically-induced contraction of isolated extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle also doubled the kinase activity of p38 MAPKalpha and p38 MAPKbeta. The activity of both isoforms was inhibited in vitro by 10 micromol/l SB203580 in all muscles. To explore the possible participation of p38 MAPK in the stimulation of glucose uptake, EDL and soleus muscles were exposed to increasing doses of SB203580 before and during stimulation by insulin or contraction. SB203580 caused a significant reduction in the insulin- or contraction-stimulated 2-deoxyglucose uptake. Maximal inhibition (50-60%) occurred with 10 micromol/l SB203580. These results show that p38 MAPKalpha and -beta isoforms are activated by insulin and contraction in skeletal muscle. The data further suggest that activation of p38 MAPK may participate in the stimulation of glucose uptake by both stimuli in rat skeletal muscle.

Effect of diabetes on glucoregulation. From glucose transporters to glucose metabolism in vivo.

Peripheral resistance to insulin is a prominent feature of both insulin-dependent and non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Skeletal muscle is the primary site responsible for decreased insulin-induced glucose utilization in diabetic subjects. Glucose transport is the rate-limiting step for glucose utilization in muscle, and that cellular process is defective in human and animal diabetes. The transport of glucose across the muscle cell plasma membrane is mediated by glucose transporter proteins, and two isoforms (GLUT1 and GLUT4) are expressed in muscle. Insulin acutely increases glucose transport in muscle by selectively stimulating the recruitment of the GLUT4 transporter (but not GLUT1) from an intracellular pool to the plasma membrane. In skeletal muscles of streptozocin-induced diabetic rats, there is a decreased GLUT4 protein content in intracellular and plasma membranes. In these rats, insulin induced the mobilization of GLUT4 from the internal pool, but the incorporation of the transporter protein into the plasma membrane is diminished. Conversely, the content of the GLUT1 transporter increases in the plasma membrane of these diabetic rats. Normalization of glycemia with phlorizin fully restores the amount of GLUT1 and GLUT4 proteins to normal levels in the plasma membrane without altering insulin levels. This suggests that glycemia regulates the number of glucose transporters at the cell surface, GLUT1 varying directly and GLUT4 inversely, to glycemia. The regulatory role of glycemia also can be seen in diabetic dogs in vivo, where correction of hyperglycemia with phlorizin restores, at least in part, the defective metabolic clearance rate of glucose seen in these animals. In addition to acutely stimulating glucose transport in muscle, insulin controls exercise- and possibly stress-mediated glucose uptake in vivo, by preventing hyperglycemia and by restraining the effects of catecholamines on lipolysis and/or muscle glycogenolysis. Finally, we postulated a neural pathway that requires the permissive effect of insulin to increase glucose uptake by the muscle. Thus, insulin, glucose, and neural pathways regulate muscle glucose utilization in vivo and are, therefore, important determinants of glucoregulation in diabetes.

Decrease in glucose transporter number in skeletal muscle of mildly diabetic (streptozotocin-treated) rats.

Diabetes is associated with a decrease in glucose uptake into muscle, the primary tissue responsible for whole body glucose uptake in the fed state. To study the basis of such a decrease we estimated the number of glucose transporters in skeletal muscle membranes from control and streptozotocin (STZ)-treated rats. Animals were injected with 65 mg STZ/kg and were clearly diabetic (hyperglycemic and glycosuric) at 1 week. After an overnight fast, animals were killed, and skeletal muscle from hind limbs were removed and used to prepare plasma membranes and internal membranes. The number of glucose transporters was determined by D-glucose-protectable equilibrium binding of [3H]cytochalasin-B. STZ-treated rats showed a 37% decrease in the number of glucose transporters per mg protein in crude membranes. The decrease was more pronounced in plasma membranes (average 50% decrease) than in the intracellular membranes (32% decrease). The reduction in the number of glucose transporters was specific, since it was not paralleled by changes in other plasma membrane markers or in total protein, although plasma membrane protein decreased by 15% in STZ-treated rats. When total recoveries of transporters were calculated (i.e. picomoles of transporters recovered per g tissue), the number of transporters in the plasma membrane fraction from STZ-treated rats was decreased by 68% relative to that in control animals. In the intracellular membranes and in total crude membranes from diabetic rats the transporters were decreased by 45%. This suggests that in STZ-treated rats there is an overall decrease in the number of glucose transporters, and that the plasma membrane is further specifically depleted of transporters. The decrease in glucose transporter number in the plasma membrane could at least in part be the cause of the diminished glucose uptake in diabetic muscle and for overall drop in total body glucose utilization of this condition.

Stimulation of Na+/H+ exchange by insulin and phorbol ester during differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells. Relation to hexose uptake.

Acute exposure of 3T3-L1 undifferentiated fibroblasts to insulin or 4 beta-phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate (PDB) produced a moderate but significant stimulation of hexose transport (100% stimulation). In differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes, stimulation by insulin increased significantly (to 340%), while that by PDB remained at 130%. Total protein kinase C activity was 3-fold higher in 3T3-L1 fibroblast than adipocyte homogenates. PDB, but not insulin, induced migration of protein kinase C from the cytosol to the membrane, in both fibroblasts and adipocytes. Moreover, the hormone increased by 15% the protein kinase C activity of the cytosol. In 3T3-L1 fibroblasts, both insulin and PDB elicited a rapid (2 min lag) cytoplasmic alkalinization, measured with the fluorescent pH indicator bis-carboxyethyl carboxyfluorescein trapped in the cytoplasm. In 3T3-L1 adipocytes, PDB but not insulin elicited the cytoplasmic alkalinization. The alkalinization was prevented by amiloride or by replacing Na+ with either N-methylglucamine+ or K+. Stimulation of hexose transport by insulin or PDB was not affected by amiloride or Na+ substitution. It is concluded that: 1) Insulin and PDB have different effects on protein kinase C activity and subcellular distribution; 2) the responses of Na+/H+ exchange and hexose transport to insulin and PDB develop independently during differentiation of 3T3-L1 cells; 3) stimulation of Na+/H+ exchange and of hexose transport occur in parallel rather than in series in 3T3-L1 cells.

Insulin regulation and selective segregation with glucose transporter-4 of the membrane aminopeptidase vp165 in rat skeletal muscle cells.

vp165, a recently described member of the family of zinc-dependent membrane aminopeptidases, is a major constituent of glucose transporter-4 (GLUT4)-containing vesicles in adipocytes and skeletal muscle. Here we show that vp165 is expressed in L6 myoblasts and increases by 4.3-fold during differentiation into myotubes. The localization of vp165 in L6 myotubes was assessed by immunoblotting subcellular fractions from basal and insulin-stimulated cells and was compared to the distribution of GLUT4. vp165 and GLUT4 were mainly concentrated in the low density microsomal membranes under basal conditions. Upon stimulation with insulin, vp165 and GLUT4 were redistributed from the low density microsomes to the plasma membrane. The majority of vp165 was found in immunoisolated GLUT4-containing vesicles, and vice versa, the majority of GLUT4 was detected in immunoisolated vp165-containing vesicles. In contrast, the two other glucose transporter isoforms expressed in L6, GLUT1 and GLUT3, were excluded from GLUT4- and vp165-containing vesicles. These results suggest that in rat skeletal muscle cells, vp165 and GLUT4 cosegregate to the same intracellular compartment and that this is distinct from the compartment containing GLUT1 and GLUT3.

Cellular mechanism of metformin action involves glucose transporter translocation from an intracellular pool to the plasma membrane in L6 muscle cells.

The effects of the oral hypoglycemic drug metformin on glucose and amino acid transporter activity and subcellular localization of GLUT1 and GLUT4 glucose transporters were tested in cultured L6 myotubes. In muscle cells preexposed to maximal doses of metformin (2 mM, for 16 h), 2-deoxyglucose uptake was stimulated by over 2-fold from 5.9 +/- 0.3 to 13.3 +/- 0.5 pmol/min.mg protein. Uptake of the nonmetabolizable amino acid analog methylaminoisobutyrate was unaffected by treatment with the drug under identical conditions. Extracellular calcium was required to preserve the full response to the biguanide. Exposure of muscle cells to insulin in the presence of metformin resulted in further activation of 2-deoxyglucose transport. The latter effect was additive to the maximum effect of metformin, suggesting that the biguanide stimulates hexose uptake into muscle cells by an insulin-independent mechanism. Glucose transporter number quantified by performing studies of D-glucose-protectable binding of cytochalasin-B in plasma membranes (PM) and internal membranes (IM) prepared from L6 myotubes revealed that a 16-h treatment with 800 microM metformin significantly elevated glucose transporter number in the PM (by 47%), with an equivalent decrement in glucose transporter number (47%) in the IM. Western blot analysis using antisera reactive with the GLUT1 and GLUT4 isoforms of glucose transporters showed that metformin caused a reduction in GLUT1 content in the IM fraction and a concomitant increase in the PM. Unlike insulin, metformin treatment had no effect on the subcellular distribution of GLUT4. We propose that the molecular basis of metformin action in skeletal muscle involves the subcellular redistribution of GLUT1 proteins from an intracellular compartment to the plasma membrane. Such a recruitment process may form an integral part of the mechanism by which the drug stimulates glucose uptake (and utilization) in skeletal muscle and facilitates lowering of blood glucose in the management of type II diabetes.

Stimulation of hexose transport by metformin in L6 muscle cells in culture.

L6 muscle cells grown in culture to the stage of fused myotubes were incubated with the oral hypoglycemic drug metformin to test the effects of this drug on glucose transport. Metformin increased the initial rate of uptake of 2-deoxyglucose and 3-O-methylglucose. The effect was time dependent, with half-maximal stimulation at 5-6 h and maximal stimulation by about 16 h. The stimulation of hexose uptake was not prevented by cycloheximide. In 15 mM glucose medium, the basal rate of transport was lower than in 5 mM glucose medium. The stimulation of hexose uptake by metformin was comparable in absolute units in both media; hence, relative to basal uptake, stimulation was greater in the high glucose medium than in the low glucose medium. In 5 mM glucose medium, half-maximal stimulation was obtained with 800 microM metformin when tested for 24 h. The stimulation of hexose transport by metformin was only detectable in fused myotubes and not in perfusion myoblasts. No significant changes were observed in glucose transporter levels in total cell membranes from L6 myotubes (measured as D-glucose-protectable binding sites for cytochalasin-B) or in the total levels of the immunoreactive glucose transporter isoforms GLUT4 or GLUT1. It is concluded that metformin stimulates hexose transport into differentiated muscle cells by acting at a posttranslational level. We speculate that this might also constitute the basis for the ability of the drug to lower glycemia in diabetic individuals.

Stimulation of glucose uptake and increased plasma membrane content of glucose transporters in L6 skeletal muscle cells by the sulfonylureas gliclazide and glyburide.

Many studies suggest that sulfonylureas (SUs) have direct extrapancreatic actions. The action of gliclazide, a new SU, was examined and compared to that of glyburide in L6 myotubes, a model of skeletal muscle. Gliclazide and glyburide increased 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2DG) uptake in a time- and dose-dependent fashion after 24 h to a maximum of 179% and 202% of the basal value, respectively (P < 0.001). Acute (30-min) insulin (10(-7) M) stimulated 2DG uptake to similar levels (203% of basal), but this effect was absent after maximum stimulation by SU. SU action did not require insulin and was not blocked by the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. To investigate the mechanism of stimulation of 2DG uptake, cells were fractionated, and total plasma membrane and internal membrane levels of glucose transporter (GLUT) isoforms were determined by immunoblotting. Both drugs significantly increased the total content (1.7-fold) and plasma membrane level (1.8-fold) of GLUT1, with no change in internal membrane. Total content and plasma membrane levels of GLUT4 and GLUT3 did not change or showed a small decrease. We conclude that the stimulation of glucose uptake in L6 cells by gliclazide and glyburide is associated not with a redistribution but, rather, with an increase in the total membrane content and plasma membrane level of GLUT1, which is independent of protein synthesis. These data suggest a novel action of SU to stabilize GLUT1 protein at the plasma membrane.

Characterization of glucose transporter-enriched membranes from rat skeletal muscle: assessment of endothelial cell contamination and presence of sarcoplasmic reticulum and transverse tubules.

The subcellular origin of membranes from rat skeletal muscle that contain insulin-responsive glucose transporters was investigated. Rat skeletal muscle membranes were prepared by isopycnic centrifugation in sucrose gradients. In vivo insulin treatment increased the content of GLUT-4 glucose transporters in the 25% sucrose fraction (enriched in the plasma membrane marker 5'-nucleotidase) and decreased it in the 35% sucrose fraction (devoid of plasma membrane markers). The possibility of endothelial cell membrane contamination in these fractions was investigated using a mouse monoclonal antibody, MRC OX-43, raised against a cell surface protein specific to rat vascular endothelium. MRC OX-43 did not react with any of the muscle membrane fractions, but did recognize a protein of around 100 kDa in extracts of human endothelial cells and rat aorta. An antibody to the dihydropyridine receptor of skeletal muscle, IIC12, was used to determine the presence of transverse tubules in these fractions. IIC12 reacted positively with a 180-kDa protein in purified rat transverse tubules. In contrast, this antibody did not cross-react with the 25% or 35% sucrose fractions. The 25% sucrose fraction was devoid of calsequestrin and ryanodine receptor, cisternal sarcoplasmic reticulum markers. However, small amounts of these proteins were detected in the 35% sucrose fraction. The results suggest that the 25% sucrose fraction represents plasma membranes, while the 35% sucrose fraction is an insulin-sensitive intracellular fraction that contains, but is not enriched in, sarcoplasmic reticulum cisternae. The results further show that insulin-induced recruitment of GLUT-4 transporters in skeletal muscles can be demonstrated independently of GLUT-4 recruitment in endothelial cells.

Exercise-induced increase in glucose transporters in plasma membranes of rat skeletal muscle.

A previously developed technique for the isolation of plasma and intracellular membrane fractions from rat skeletal muscle was used to investigate transporter migration after insulin treatment or a bout of exercise (45 min of treadmill). Glucose-inhibitable cytochalasin-B binding was used to estimate the number of glucose transporters. Insulin and exercise caused increases in glucose uptake into the hindlimb muscles of 5- and 3-fold, respectively. Each stimulus also caused a 2-fold increase in the number of glucose transporters in plasma membranes prepared from hindlimb muscles. The insulin-induced increase in plasma membrane transporters was accompanied by a concomitant decrease in transporters from the intracellular pool. In contrast to insulin, there was no concomitant decrease in the number of cytochalasin-B-binding sites in the intracellular membrane fraction from exercised muscles. The ability of both insulin and exercise to increase the number of transporters in the plasma membrane is in accordance with recruitment of transporters as one cause of increased transport activity. However, the inability of exercise to decrease the number of transporters in the insulin-sensitive intracellular pool suggests the existence of either a second recruitable transporter pool or masked glucose transporters in the plasma membrane that are unmasked by the muscle contractile activity.

Insulin stimulation of glucose uptake and the transmembrane potential of muscle cells in culture.

The membrane potential of L6 muscle cells was measured with the fluorescent dye bis-oxonol. Hyperpolarizations of up to 15 mV were caused by gramicidin (in N-methyl-D-glucamine+ medium), or by monensin or ionomycin. Depolarization was achieved with gramicidin (in Na+ medium), or with K+. Insulin did not change the resting membrane potential of -70 mV, yet it effectively stimulated 2-deoxy-D-glucose uptake. Conditions that hyperpolarize the cells did not alter the basal rate of hexose uptake. Moreover, insulin was still capable of stimulating hexose uptake in depolarized cells. It is concluded that modulation of the membrane potential is probably not a signalling event in insulin stimulation of hexose uptake.

Exercise modulates the insulin-induced translocation of glucose transporters in rat skeletal muscle.

Insulin and acute exercise (45 min of treadmill run) increased glucose uptake into perfused rat hindlimbs 5-fold and 3.2-fold, respectively. Following exercise, insulin treatment resulted in a further increase in glucose uptake. The subcellular distribution of the muscle glucose transporters GLUT-1 and GLUT-4 was determined in plasma membranes and intracellular membranes. Neither exercise nor exercise----insulin treatment altered the distribution of GLUT-1 transporters in these membrane fractions. In contrast, exercise, insulin and exercise----insulin treatment caused comparable increases in GLUT-4 transporters in the plasma membrane. The results suggest that exercise might limit insulin-induced GLUT-4 recruitment and that following exercise, insulin may alter the intrinsic activity of plasma membrane glucose transporters.

Insulin-induced translocation of glucose transporters in rat hindlimb muscles.

Insulin causes a translocation of glucose transporters from intracellular microsomes to the plasma membrane in adipocytes. To determine whether insulin has a similar effect in rat hindlimb muscles, we used glucose-inhibitable cytochalasin B binding to estimate the number of glucose transporters in membrane fractions from insulinized and control muscles. Insulin treatment caused an approx. 2-fold increase in cytochalasin B-binding sites in a plasma membrane fraction and an approx. 70% decrease in cytochalasin B-binding sites in an intracellular membrane fraction. In order to detect this effect of insulin, it was necessary to develop a procedure for isolating a plasma membrane fraction and an intracellular membrane fraction that were not contaminated with sarcoplasmic reticulum. Our results show that, as in adipocytes, insulin stimulates translocation of glucose transporters from an intracellular membrane pool to the plasma membrane in hindlimb skeletal muscles.

Expression of beta subunit isoforms of the Na+,K(+)-ATPase is muscle type-specific.

Hindlimb skeletal muscles of the rat express two isoforms of the alpha (alpha 1 and alpha 2) and two isoforms of the beta (beta 1 and beta 2) subunits of the Na+,K(+)-ATPase. Because several muscles constitute the hindlimb, we investigated if specific isoforms are expressed in particular muscles. Northern blot analysis using isoform-specific cDNA probes demonstrated that soleus muscle expressed only the beta 1 transcript, whereas EDL or white gastrocnemius muscles expressed only the beta 2 transcript, and red gastrocnemius muscle expressed both mRNAs. All muscles tested expressed both alpha 1 and alpha 2 transcripts, albeit to various degrees: alpha 1 transcripts were present to about the same extent in all muscles but alpha 2 mRNA was 4-fold more abundant in soleus than in EDL for the same amount of total RNA. Beta subunit protein levels were investigated in purified plasma membrane fractions of pooled red (soleus + red gastrocnemius + red quadriceps) or white (white gastrocnemius + white quadriceps) muscles using isoform-specific antibodies. Red muscles expressed mostly the beta 1 protein while white muscles expressed mostly the beta 2 subunit. Both muscle groups had similar levels of alpha 1 or alpha 2 subunits, and crude membranes isolated from red muscles had 30% higher Na+,K(+)-ATPase activity than white muscle membranes. We conclude that oxidative muscles (slow and fast twitch) express beta 1 subunits, whereas glycolytic, fast twitch muscles express beta 2 subunits, and that both beta isoforms support the Na+,K(+)-ATPase activity of the alpha subunits.

Acute and long-term effects of insulin-like growth factor I on glucose transporters in muscle cells. Translocation and biosynthesis.

Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) rapidly (less than 10 min) stimulated glucose uptake into myotubes of the L6 muscle cell line, at concentrations that act specifically on IGF-I receptors. Uptake remained stimulated at a steady level for 1-2 h, after which a second stimulation occurred. The first phase was insensitive to inhibition of protein synthesis. Subcellular fractionation demonstrated that it was accompanied by translocation of glucose transporters (both GLUT1 and GLUT4) to the plasma membrane from intracellular membranes. Translocation sufficed to explain the first phase increase in glucose transport, and there was no change in the total cellular content of GLUT1 or GLUT4 glucose transporters. The second phase of stimulation was inhibitable by cycloheximide, and involved a net increase in either GLUT1 or GLUT4 transporter content, which was reflected in an increase in transporter number in plasma membranes. These results define a cellular mechanism of metabolic action of IGF-I in muscle cells; furthermore, they suggest that IGF-I has acute metabolic effects that mimic those of insulin, bypassing action on the insulin receptor.

The GLUT4 glucose transporter and the alpha 2 subunit of the Na+,K(+)-ATPase do not localize to the same intracellular vesicles in rat skeletal muscle.

The GLUT4 glucose transporter and the alpha 2 subunit of the Na+,K(+)-ATPase of rat skeletal muscle are two proteins which redistribute from intracellular membranes to plasma membranes following in vivo insulin stimulation. Here we show that although both proteins co-segregate after subcellular fractionation of unstimulated rat hindlimb muscles, they do not share the same intracellular residence inside the muscle fibre. By immunogold single- and double-labeling on ultrathin muscle cryosections with specific antibodies, the GLUT4 glucose transporter and the Na+,K(+)-ATPase alpha 2 subunit were observed on different vesicular structures within the cell. GLUT4 was detected on subsarcolemmal and perinuclear membranes, and at the junction between myofibrillar A and I bands where triads are localized. The alpha 2 subunit of the Na+,K(+)-ATPase was observed at the plasma membrane and in distinct subsarcolemmal vesicles and intermyofibrillar membranes. Quantitative analysis of double-labeling of GLUT4 and Na+,K(+)-ATPase alpha 2 subunit revealed that less than 6% of the two proteins co-localize in the same continuous vesicular structures. The differential intracellular localization of the two proteins was further confirmed by immunopurification of GLUT4-containing membranes from muscle homogenates, in which the alpha 2 subunit of the Na+,K(+)-ATPase was found only at the same extent as the alpha 1 subunit of the enzyme, a protein exclusively present at the plasma membrane.