N-Acetyl-β-D-glucopyranosylamine 6-phosphate is a specific inhibitor of glycogen-bound protein phosphatase 1

Previous work has shown that the C-1-substituted glucose-analogue N-acetyl-β-D-glucopyranosylamine (1-GlcNAc) is a competitive inhibitor of glycogen phosphorylase (GP) and stimulates the inactivation of this enzyme by GP phosphatase. In addition to its effects on GP, 1-GlcNAc also prevents the glucose-led activation of glycogen synthase (GS) in whole hepatocytes. Such an effect on GS was thought to be due to the formation of 1-GlcNAc-6-P by the action of glucokinase within the hepatocyte [Board, Bollen, Stalmans, Kim, Fleet and Johnson (1995) Biochem. J. 311, 845-852]. To investigate this possibility further, a pure preparation of 1-GlcNAc-6-P was synthesized. The effects of the phosphorylated glucose analogue on the activity of protein phosphatase 1 (PP1), the enzyme responsible for dephosphorylation and activation of GS, are reported. During the present study, 1-GlcNAc-6-P inhibited the activity of the glycogen-bound form of PP1, affecting both the GSb phosphatase and GPa phosphatase activities. A level of 50% inhibition of GSb phosphatase activity was achieved with 85 μM 1-GlcNAc-6-P in the absence of Glc-6-P and with 135 μM in the presence of 10 mM Glc-6-P. At either Glc-6-P concentration, 500 μM 1-GlcNAc-6-P completely inhibited activity. The Glc-6-P stimulation of the GPa phosphatase activity of PP1 was negated by 1-GlcNAc-6-P but there was no inhibition of the basal rate in the absence of Glc-6-P. 1-GlcNAc-6-P inhibition was specific for the glycogen-bound form of PP1 and did not inhibit the GSb phosphatase activity of the cytosolic form of the enzyme. The present work explains our previous observations on the inactivating effects on GS of incubating whole hepatocytes with 1-GlcNAc. These observations have their basis in the inhibition of glycogen-bound PP1 by 1-GlcNAc-6-P. A novel inhibitor of PP1, specific for the glycogen-bound form of the enzyme, is presented.