Explore the vast range of titles available.

The serine/threonine kinase Akt (PKB/Rac) has been implicated as playing a role in the insulin-signaling pathway to glucose transport. Little is known regarding the regulation of Akt kinase activity in insulin-sensitive tissues, such as skeletal muscle, or whether this regulation is altered in insulin-resistant states such as NIDDM. We examined the effect of insulin on Akt kinase activity in skeletal muscle from six NIDDM patients and six healthy subjects. Whole-body insulin sensitivity, assessed by the euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp, was significantly lower in NIDDM subjects (P < 0.001), and this was accompanied by impaired in vitro insulin-stimulated glucose transport in skeletal muscle. In both groups, insulin induced a significant increase in Akt kinase activity, but the response to maximal insulin (60 nmol/1) was markedly reduced in skeletal muscle from NIDDM subjects (66% of control levels, P < 0.01). Impaired Akt kinase activity was not accompanied by decreased protein expression of Akt. Instead, a trend toward increased Akt expression was noted in skeletal muscle from NIDDM subjects (P < 0.1). These parallel defects in insulin-stimulated Akt kinase activity and glucose transport in diabetic skeletal muscle suggest that reduced Akt kinase activity may play a role in the development of insulin resistance in NIDDM.

Improved glucose tolerance restores insulin-stimulated Akt kinase activity and glucose transport in skeletal muscle from diabetic Goto-Kakizaki rats. A Krook , Y Kawano , X M Song , S Efendić , R A Roth , H Wallberg-Henriksson and J R Zierath Department of Clinical Physiology, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. Abstract The serine/threonine kinase Akt (protein kinase B [PKB] or related to A and C protein kinase [RAC]) has recently been implicated to play a role in the signaling pathway to glucose transport. However, little is known concerning the regulation of Akt activity in insulin-sensitive tissues such as skeletal muscle. To explore the role of hyperglycemia on Akt kinase activity in skeletal muscle, normal Wistar rats or Goto-Kakizaki (GK) diabetic rats were treated with phlorizin. Phlorizin treatment normalized fasting blood glucose and significantly improved glucose tolerance (P < 0.001) in GK rats, whereas in Wistar rats, the compound had no effect on glucose homeostasis. In soleus muscle from GK rats, maximal insulin-stimulated (120 nmol/l) Akt kinase activity was reduced by 68% (P < 0.01) and glucose transport was decreased by 39% (P < 0.05), compared with Wistar rats. Importantly, the defects at the level of Akt kinase and glucose transport were completely restored by phlorizin treatment. There was no significant difference in Akt kinase protein expression among the three groups. At a submaximal insulin concentration (2.4 nmol/l), activity of Akt kinase and glucose transport were unaltered. In conclusion, improved glucose tolerance in diabetic GK rats by phlorizin treatment fully restored insulin-stimulated activity of Akt kinase and glucose transport. Thus, hyperglycemia may directly contribute to the development of muscle insulin resistance through alterations in insulin action on Akt kinase and glucose transport.

To identify potential signaling molecules involved in mediating insulin-induced biological responses, a yeast two-hybrid screen was performed with the cytoplasmic domain of the human insulin receptor (IR) as bait to trap high-affinity interacting proteins encoded by human liver or HeLa cDNA libraries. A SH2-domain-containing protein was identified that binds with high affinity in vitro to the autophosphorylated IR. The mRNA for this protein was found by Northern blot analyses to be highest in skeletal muscle and was also detected in fat by PCR. To study the role of this protein in insulin signaling, a full-length cDNA encoding this protein (called Grb-IR) was isolated and stably expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells overexpressing the human IR. Insulin treatment of these cells resulted in the in situ formation of a complex of the IR and the 60-kDa Grb-IR. Although almost 75% of the Grb-IR protein was bound to the IR, it was only weakly tyrosine-phosphorylated. The formation of this complex appeared to inhibit the insulin-induced increase in tyrosine phosphorylation of two endogenous substrates, a 60-kDa GTPase-activating-protein-associated protein and, to a lesser extent, IR substrate 1. The subsequent association of this latter protein with phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase also appeared to be inhibited. These findings raise the possibility that Grb-IR is a SH2-domain-containing protein that directly complexes with the IR and serves to inhibit signaling or redirect the IR signaling pathway.

Muscle fiber type-specific defects in insulin signal transduction to glucose transport in diabetic GK rats. X M Song , Y Kawano , A Krook , J W Ryder , S Efendic , R A Roth , H Wallberg-Henriksson and J R Zierath Department of Clinical Physiology, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. Abstract To determine whether defects in the insulin signal transduction pathway to glucose transport occur in a muscle fiber type-specific manner, post-receptor insulin-signaling events were assessed in oxidative (soleus) and glycolytic (extensor digitorum longus [EDL]) skeletal muscle from Wistar or diabetic GK rats. In soleus muscle from GK rats, maximal insulin-stimulated (120 nmol/l) glucose transport was significantly decreased, compared with that of Wistar rats. In EDL muscle from GK rats, maximal insulin-stimulated glucose transport was normal, while the submaximal response was reduced compared with that of Wistar rats. We next treated diabetic GK rats with phlorizin for 4 weeks to determine whether restoration of glycemia would lead to improved insulin signal transduction. Phlorizin treatment of GK rats resulted in full restoration of insulin-stimulated glucose transport in soleus and EDL muscle. In soleus muscle from GK rats, submaximal and maximal insulin-stimulated insulin receptor substrate (IRS)-1 tyrosine phosphorylation and IRS-1-associated phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase activity were markedly reduced, compared with that of Wistar rats, but only submaximal insulin-stimulated PI 3-kinase was restored after phlorizin treatment. In EDL muscle, insulin-stimulated IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation and IRS-1-associated PI-3 kinase were not altered between GK and Wistar rats. Maximal insulin-stimulated Akt (protein kinase B) kinase activity is decreased in soleus muscle from GK rats and restored upon normalization of glycemia (Krook et al., Diabetes 46:2100-2114, 1997). Here, we show that in EDL muscle from GK rats, maximal insulin-stimulated Akt kinase activity is also impaired and restored to Wistar rat levels after phlorizin treatment. In conclusion, functional defects in IRS-1 and PI 3-kinase in skeletal muscle from diabetic GK rats are fiber-type-specific, with alterations observed in oxidative, but not glycolytic, muscle. Furthermore, regardless of muscle fiber type, downstream steps to PI 3-kinase (i.e., Akt and glucose transport) are sensitive to changes in the level of glycemia.

The serine/threonine kinase Akt (protein kinase B [PKB] or related to A and C protein kinase [RAC] has recently been implicated to play a role in the signaling pathway to glucose transport. However, little is known concerning the regulation of Akt activity in insulinsensitive tissues such as skeletal muscle. To explore the role of hyperglycemia on Akt kinase activity in skeletal muscle, normal Wistar rats or Goto-Kakizaki (GK) diabetic rats were treated with phlorizin. Phlorizin treatment normalized fasting blood glucose and significantly improved glucose tolerance (P < 0.001) in GK rats, whereas in Wistar rats, the compound had no effect on glucose homeostasis. In soleus muscle from GK rats, maximal insulin-stimulated (120 nmol/l) Akt kinase activity was reduced by 68% (P < 0.01) and glucose transport was decreased by 39% (P < 0.05), compared with Wistar rats. Importantly, the defects at the level of Akt kinase and glucose transport were completely restored by phlorizin treatment. There was no significant difference in Akt kinase protein expression among the three groups. At a submaximal insulin concentration (2.4 nmol/l), activity of Akt kinase and glucose transport were unaltered. In conclusion, improved glucose tolerance in diabetic GK rats by phlorizin treatment fully restored insulin-stimulated activity of Akt kinase and glucose transport. Thus, hyperglycemia may directly contribute to the development of muscle insulin resistance through alterations in insulin action on Akt kinase and glucose transport.

Inorganic polyphosphate (poly P), chains of hundreds of phosphate residues linked by \"high-energy\" bonds as in ATP, has been conserved from prebiotic times in all cells. Poly P is essential for a wide variety of functions in bacteria, including virulence in pathogens. In this study, we observe the unique and many-fold stimulation by poly P in vitro of the protein kinase mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin). To explore the role of poly P in mammalian cells, a yeast polyphosphatase, PPX1, was inserted into the chromosomes of MCF-7 mammary cancer cells. The transfected cells are markedly deficient in their response to mitogens, such as insulin and amino acids, as seen in their failure to activate mTOR to phosphorylate one of its substrates, PHAS-I (the initiation factor 4E-binding protein). In addition, the transfected cells are severely reduced in their growth in a serum-free medium. On the basis of these findings, we suggest that poly P (and/or PPX1) serves as a regulatory factor in the activation of mTOR in the proliferative signaling pathways of animal cells.

The role of the insulin receptor tyrosine kinase (protein-tyrosine kinase, EC 2.7.1.112) in various rapid insulin effects was studied by injecting four different cell types (by osmotic lysis of pinocytotic vesicles) with a monoclonal antibody that specifically inhibits the kinase activity of the insulin receptor and the closely related receptor for insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I. Injection of this inhibitory antibody resulted in a decreased ability of insulin to stimulate (i) the uptake of 2-deoxyglucose in Chinese hamster ovary cells and freshly isolated rat adipocytes, (ii) ribosomal protein S6 phosphorylation in CHO cells, and (iii) glycogen synthesis in the human hepatoma cell line HepG2. The ability of insulin, IGF-I, and IGF-II to stimulate glucose uptake in TA1 mouse adipocytes was also inhibited. Studies with CHO cells demonstrated that these effects of the inhibitory antibody were specific, since (i) there was no change in phorbol esterstimulated glucose uptake and (ii) injection of a noninhibiting antibody to the kinase had no effect on insulin action. These studies indicate that the tyrosine kinase activity of the insulin receptor is important in mediating several rapid insulin effects in a variety of different cell types.

Chimeric receptors containing different portions of the homologous human insulin receptor, insulin-like growth factor I receptor, and insulin receptor-related receptor were utilized to identify the epitopes recognized by various anti-insulin receptor antibodies. The antibodies studied included 12 monoclonal antibodies to the extracellular domain of the human insulin receptor as well as 15 patients' sera with autoimmune anti-insulin receptor antibodies. All of the patients' sera and all 8 monoclonal antibodies that inhibit insulin binding were found to recognize an epitope contained within residues 450-601 of the α subunit of the receptor. In contrast, 2 monoclonal antibodies that do not inhibit insulin binding were found to recognize the cysteine-rich region of the α subunit. Chimeric insulin receptors that had residues 450-601 replaced with the homologous residues of the insulin-like growth factor I receptor exhibited a decreased ability to bind insulin. In contrast, insulin-like growth factor I receptors that have had the comparable region replaced with that of the insulin receptor showed no decrease in their ability to bind ligand. These results indicate that residues 450-601 of the insulin receptor are important for insulin binding and include the major site for recognition by inhibitory monoclonal antibodies and patients' autoimmune anti-receptor antibodies.

An unusual active site has been identified in a family of zinc metalloendopeptidases that includes bacterial protease III and the human and Drosophila insulin-degrading enzymes. All of these enzymes have been characterized as metalloendopeptidases and purified protease III has been shown to contain stoichiometric levels of zinc. However, all three proteases lack the consensus sequence (HEXXH) described in the active site of other zinc metalloendopeptidases. Instead, these proteases contain an inversion of this motif, HXXEH. To determine whether this region could represent the active site in these proteins, the two histidines in protease III were individually mutated to arginine and the glutamate was mutated to glutamine. All three mutants were devoid of proteolytic activity toward an exogenous substrate, insulin, as compared to the wild-type protease. Three lines of evidence indicate that this loss of activity in the mutants is not due to distortion of the three-dimensional structure of the protein: (i) the mutants are secreted into the periplasmic space and chromatograph normally; (ii) all three mutants are expressed at levels nearly identical to wild-type protein and do not appear to have an increased susceptibility to proteolysis in the bacteria; and (iii) the mutants compete equally with wild-type protein in a radioimmunoassay. The purified wild-type and glutamate mutants were found to contain stoichiometric amounts of zinc by atomic absorption spectrophotometry, whereas both histidine mutants had negligible zinc signals. These findings are consistent with this region being the active site in this protein, with the histidine residues coordinating the essential zinc atom and the glutamate involved in catalysis.

To test whether the tyrosine kinase activity of the insulin receptor is crucial for insulin action, we have constructed mutations of the human insulin receptor at Lys-1030, which is in the presumed ATP-binding region. By using oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis, this lysine residue was replaced with either methionine, arginine, or alanine. Chinese hamster ovary cells were transfected by mutant cDNAs and the expressed insulin receptors were characterized. We show here that none of these mutants exhibited insulin-activated autophosphorylation and kinase activity in vitro. They also do not mediate insulin- and antibody-stimulated uptake of 2-deoxyglucose. The tyrosine kinase activity is thus required for a key physiological response of insulin.