scholarly journals Altered Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase Signaling and Glycogen Metabolism in Skeletal Muscle from p90 Ribosomal S6 Kinase 2 Knockout Mice

2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott D. Dufresne ◽  
Christian Bjørbæk ◽  
Karim El-Haschimi ◽  
Yi Zhao ◽  
William G. Aschenbach ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The p90 ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK), a cytosolic substrate for the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), is involved in transcriptional regulation, and one isoform (RSK2) has been implicated in the activation of glycogen synthase by insulin. To determine RSK2 function in vivo, mice lacking a functional rsk2 gene were generated and studied in response to insulin and exercise, two potent stimulators of the ERK cascade in skeletal muscle. RSK2 knockout (KO) mice weigh 10% less and are 14% shorter than wild-type (WT) mice. They also have impaired learning and coordination. Hindlimb skeletal muscles were obtained from mice 10, 15, or 30 min after insulin injection or immediately after strenuous treadmill exercise for 60 min. While insulin and exercise significantly increased ERK phosphorylation in skeletal muscle from both WT and KO mice, the increases were twofold greater in the KO animals. This occurred despite 27% lower ERK2 protein expression in skeletal muscle of KO mice. KO mice had 18% less muscle glycogen in the fasted basal state, and insulin increased glycogen synthase activity more in KO than WT mice. The enhanced insulin-stimulated increases in ERK and glycogen synthase activities in KO mice were not associated with higher insulin receptor or with IRS1 tyrosine phosphorylation or with IRS1 binding to phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase. However, insulin-stimulated serine phosphorylation of Akt was significantly higher in the KO animals. c-fos mRNA was increased similarly in muscle from WT and KO mice in response to insulin (2.5-fold) and exercise (15-fold). In conclusion, RSK2 likely plays a major role in feedback inhibition of the ERK pathway in skeletal muscle. Furthermore, RSK2 is not required for activation of muscle glycogen synthase by insulin but may indirectly modulate muscle glycogen synthase activity and/or glycogen content by other mechanisms, possibly through regulation of Akt. RSK2 knockout mice may be a good animal model for the study of Coffin-Lowry syndrome.

Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 1567
Author(s):  
Po-Chien Chou ◽  
Swati Rajput ◽  
Xiaoyun Zhao ◽  
Chadni Patel ◽  
Danielle Albaciete ◽  
...  

Cells adjust to nutrient fluctuations to restore metabolic homeostasis. The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 2 responds to nutrient levels and growth signals to phosphorylate protein kinases belonging to the AGC (Protein Kinases A,G,C) family such as Akt and PKC. Phosphorylation of these AGC kinases at their conserved hydrophobic motif (HM) site by mTORC2 enhances their activation and mediates the functions of mTORC2 in cell growth and metabolism. Another AGC kinase family member that is known to undergo increased phosphorylation at the homologous HM site (Ser380) is the p90 ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK). Phosphorylation at Ser380 is facilitated by the activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK) in response to growth factor stimulation. Here, we demonstrate that optimal phosphorylation of RSK at this site requires an intact mTORC2. We also found that RSK is robustly phosphorylated at Ser380 upon nutrient withdrawal or inhibition of glycolysis, conditions that increase mTORC2 activation. However, pharmacological inhibition of mTOR did not abolish RSK phosphorylation at Ser380, indicating that mTOR catalytic activity is not required for this phosphorylation. Since RSK and SIN1β colocalize at the membrane during serum restimulation and acute glutamine withdrawal, mTORC2 could act as a scaffold to enhance RSK HM site phosphorylation. Among the known RSK substrates, the CCTβ subunit of the chaperonin containing TCP-1 (CCT) complex had defective phosphorylation in the absence of mTORC2. Our findings indicate that the mTORC2-mediated phosphorylation of the RSK HM site could confer RSK substrate specificity and reveal that RSK responds to nutrient fluctuations.


2005 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 907-920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teddy T. C. Yang ◽  
Qiufang Xiong ◽  
Isabella A. Graef ◽  
Gerald R. Crabtree ◽  
Chi-Wing Chow

ABSTRACT Integration of protein kinases into transcription activation complexes influences the magnitude of gene expression. The nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT) group of proteins are critical transcription factors that direct gene expression in immune and nonimmune cells. A balance of phosphotransferase activity is necessary for optimal NFAT activation. Activation of NFAT requires dephosphorylation by the calcium-mediated calcineurin phosphatase to promote NFAT nuclear accumulation, and the Ras-activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, which targets NFAT partners, to potentiate transcription. Whether protein kinases operate on NFAT and contribute positively to transcription activation is not clear. Here, we coupled DNA affinity isolation with in-gel kinase assays to avidly pull down the activated NFAT and identify its associated protein kinases. We demonstrate that p90 ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK) is recruited to the NFAT-DNA transcription complex upon activation. The formation of RSK-NFATc4-DNA transcription complex is also apparent upon adipogenesis. Bound RSK phosphorylates Ser676 and potentiates NFATc4 DNA binding by escalating NFAT-DNA association. Ser676 is also targeted by the ERK MAP kinase, which interacts with NFAT at a distinct region than RSK. Thus, integration of the ERK/RSK signaling pathway provides a mechanism to modulate NFATc4 transcription activity.


2004 ◽  
Vol 287 (1) ◽  
pp. C200-C208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuharu Fujii ◽  
Marni D. Boppart ◽  
Scott D. Dufresne ◽  
Patricia F. Crowley ◽  
Alison C. Jozsi ◽  
...  

c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) is highly expressed in skeletal muscle and is robustly activated in response to muscle contraction. Little is known about the biological functions of JNK signaling in terminally differentiated muscle cells, although this protein has been proposed to regulate insulin-stimulated glycogen synthase activity in mouse skeletal muscle. To determine whether JNK signaling regulates contraction-stimulated glycogen synthase activation, we applied an electroporation technique to induce JNK overexpression (O/E) in mouse skeletal muscle. Ten days after electroporation, in situ muscle contraction increased JNK activity 2.6-fold in control muscles and 15-fold in the JNK O/E muscles. Despite the enormous activation of JNK activity in JNK O/E muscles, contraction resulted in similar increases in glycogen synthase activity in control and JNK O/E muscles. Consistent with these findings, basal and contraction-induced glycogen synthase activity was normal in muscles of both JNK1- and JNK2-deficient mice. JNK overexpression in muscle resulted in significant alterations in the basal phosphorylation state of several signaling proteins, such as extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, p90 S6 kinase, glycogen synthase kinase 3, protein kinase B/Akt, and p70 S6 kinase, in the absence of changes in the expression of these proteins. These data suggest that JNK signaling regulates the phosphorylation state of several kinases in skeletal muscle. JNK activation is unlikely to be the major mechanism by which contractile activity increases glycogen synthase activity in skeletal muscle.


2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 4255-4266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Pomrehn Myers ◽  
Laura B. Corson ◽  
Janet Rossant ◽  
Julie C. Baker

ABSTRACT Receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signals regulate the specification of a varied array of tissue types by utilizing distinct modules of proteins to elicit diverse effects. The RSK proteins are part of the RTK signal transduction pathway and are thought to relay these signals by acting downstream of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). In this study we report the identification of ribosomal S6 kinase 4 (Rsk4) as an inhibitor of RTK signals. Among the RSK proteins, RTK inhibition is specific to RSK4 and, in accordance, is dependent upon a region of the RSK4 protein that is divergent from other RSK family members. We demonstrate that Rsk4 inhibits the transcriptional activation of specific targets of RTK signaling as well as the activation of ERK. Developmentally, Rsk4 is expressed in extraembryonic tissue, where RTK signals are known to have critical roles. Further examination of Rsk4 expression in the extraembryonic tissues demonstrates that its expression is inversely correlated with the presence of activated ERK 1/2. These studies demonstrate a new and divergent function for RSK4 and support a role for RSK proteins in the specification of RTK signals during early mouse development.


1992 ◽  
Vol 262 (4) ◽  
pp. E434-E439 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Coderre ◽  
A. K. Srivastava ◽  
J. L. Chiasson

The effect of hypercorticism on the regulation of glycogen metabolism by epinephrine was examined in skeletal muscles using a hindlimb perfusion technique. Rats were injected with either saline or dexamethasone (0.4 mg.kg-1.day-1) for 14 days and were studied in the fed and fasted (24 h) states under saline or epinephrine (10(-7) M) treatment. In the fed state, dexamethasone administration did not affect basal glycogen concentration but decreased glycogen synthase activity ratio in white and red gastrocnemius muscles. Epinephrine failed to decrease glycogen content despite the expected activation of glycogen phosphorylase in the fed dexamethasone-treated rats. Dexamethasone treatment resulted in a threefold increase in the level of muscle adenosine, a phosphorylase a inhibitor. In control rats, fasting was associated with a decrease in muscle glycogen concentration (P less than 0.01) and with an increase in the glycogen synthase activity ratio. Dexamethasone treatment, however, totally abolished both the decreased muscle glycogen content and glycogen synthase activation observed in fasting controls. In the dexamethasone-treated group, fasting restored the glycogenolytic effect of epinephrine. Interestingly, it was associated with decreased muscle adenosine concentrations. These data indicate that, in the fed state, dexamethasone treatment inhibits skeletal muscle glycogenolysis in response to epinephrine despite phosphorylase activation and glycogen synthase inactivation. It is suggested that this abnormality could be due to the inhibition of phosphorylase a by increased muscle adenosine levels.


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