Insulin promotes glycogen synthesis in the absence of GSK3 phosphorylation in skeletal muscle

2008 ◽  
Vol 294 (1) ◽  
pp. E28-E35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michale Bouskila ◽  
Michael F. Hirshman ◽  
Jørgen Jensen ◽  
Laurie J. Goodyear ◽  
Kei Sakamoto

Insulin promotes dephosphorylation and activation of glycogen synthase (GS) by inactivating glycogen synthase kinase (GSK) 3 through phosphorylation. Insulin also promotes glucose uptake and glucose 6-phosphate (G-6- P) production, which allosterically activates GS. The relative importance of these two regulatory mechanisms in the activation of GS in vivo is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate if dephosphorylation of GS mediated via GSK3 is required for normal glycogen synthesis in skeletal muscle with insulin. We employed GSK3 knockin mice in which wild-type GSK3α and -β genes are replaced with mutant forms (GSK3α/βS21A/S21A/S9A/S9A), which are nonresponsive to insulin. Although insulin failed to promote dephosphorylation and activation of GS in GSK3α/βS21A/S21A/S9A/S9Amice, glycogen content in different muscles from these mice was similar compared with wild-type mice. Basal and epinephrine-stimulated activity of muscle glycogen phosphorylase was comparable between wild-type and GSK3 knockin mice. Incubation of isolated soleus muscle in Krebs buffer containing 5.5 mM glucose in the presence or absence of insulin revealed that the levels of G-6- P, the rate of [14C]glucose incorporation into glycogen, and an increase in total glycogen content were similar between wild-type and GSK3 knockin mice. Injection of glucose containing 2-deoxy-[3H]glucose and [14C]glucose also resulted in similar rates of muscle glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis in vivo between wild-type and GSK3 knockin mice. These results suggest that insulin-mediated inhibition of GSK3 is not a rate-limiting step in muscle glycogen synthesis in mice. This suggests that allosteric regulation of GS by G-6- P may play a key role in insulin-stimulated muscle glycogen synthesis in vivo.

1982 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 434-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Fell ◽  
S. E. Terblanche ◽  
J. L. Ivy ◽  
J. C. Young ◽  
J. O. Holloszy

This study examined the effects of raising muscle glycogen by carbohydrate feeding and of keeping muscle glycogen low by carbohydrate restriction following exhausting exercise on the ability of perfused skeletal muscle to take up glucose and to synthesize glycogen. Muscle glycogen concentration was more than twice as high in the rats fed carbohydrate as in those not given carbohydrate. Muscle glycogen synthesis during a 30-min perfusion with glucose and insulin was significantly greater in the animals with low muscle glycogen. Furthermore the muscles with low glycogen content converted a greater proportion of the glucose taken up to glycogen and less to lactate than did the muscles with high glycogen content. In rats subjected to exhausting exercise on the preceding day, the rate of glucose uptake by perfused skeletal muscle was significantly higher (60–80%) at the same insulin concentration in animals in which muscle glycogen was kept low than in those in which glycogen was raised by carbohydrate feeding.


1993 ◽  
Vol 265 (5) ◽  
pp. E761-E769 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Rossetti ◽  
Y. T. Lee ◽  
J. Ruiz ◽  
S. C. Aldridge ◽  
H. Shamoon ◽  
...  

We measured the net rates of skeletal muscle glycogen synthesis and glycolysis (conversion of [3-3H]glucose to 3H2O) in healthy overnight-fasted volunteers. Two studies were performed. In study 1, seven subjects participated in two paired infusions under basal conditions of either [2-3H]glucose (H2) or [3-3H]glucose (H3). Total glucose uptake (Rd) and rates of whole body 3H2O formation (3H2O Ra) were measured. With H2, Rd and 3H2O Ra were similar. With H3, 3H2O Ra, equal to glycolysis, was 65% of Rd. In study 2, six different subjects underwent a 3-h, 40 mU.m-2 x min-1 euglycemic insulin clamp. [6,6-2H2]glucose was infused throughout and H3 was infused during the last hour of the study. Open muscle biopsies were obtained at 150 and 180 min. Glycogen synthesis was assessed by three independent means: 1) direct measurement, as 3H disintegrations per minute in isolated muscle glycogen per plasma H3 specific activity; 2) extrapolation from the activity of glycogen synthase assayed in the presence of the concentrations of glucose 6-phosphate and UDP-glucose measured in the biopsy; and 3) the difference between Rd and glycolysis. Despite a wide range in Rd [24.5-58.8 mumol.kg fat-free mass (FFM)-1 x min-1] and glycolysis (14.2-26.1), the three methods yielded similar results of 20.0 +/- 3.9, 22.5 +/- 3.7, and 20.6 +/- 3.7 mumol.kg FFM-1 x min-1 and correlated highly with each other (r2 = 0.92-0.96). Our results (study 1) indicate that the rate of plasma tritiated water formation reflects the intracellular detritiation of tritiated glucose. Under hyperinsulinemic conditions (study 2) the net rate of muscle glycogen synthesis can be accurately estimated from the glycogen synthase activity and from the difference between total glucose uptake and glycolysis. Thus, at high physiological plasma insulin concentrations resulting in submaximal stimulation of muscle glycogen synthesis, the latter can be accurately measured in humans.


1998 ◽  
Vol 275 (2) ◽  
pp. E338-E344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joong-Yeol Park ◽  
Chul-Hee Kim ◽  
Sung K. Hong ◽  
Kyo I. Suh ◽  
Ki-Up Lee

To examine effects of free fatty acids (FFA) on insulin-stimulated glucose fluxes, euglycemic hyperinsulinemic (86 pmol ⋅ kg−1 ⋅ min−1) clamps were performed for 5 h in conscious rats with ( n = 8) or without ( n = 8) lipid-heparin infusion. Glucose infusion rate required to maintain euglycemia was not different between the two groups during the first 2 h of clamps but became significantly lower with lipid-heparin infusion in the 3rd h and thereafter. To investigate changes in intracellular glucose metabolism during lipid-heparin infusion, additional clamps ( n = 8 each) were performed for 1, 2, 3, or 5 h with an infusion of [3-3H]glucose. Insulin-stimulated whole body glucose utilization (Rd), glycolysis, and glycogen synthesis were estimated on the basis of tracer concentrations in plasma during the final 40 min of each clamp. Similar to changes in glucose infusion rate, Rd was not different between the two groups in the 1st and 2nd h but was significantly lower with lipid-heparin infusion in the 3rd h and thereafter. Whole body glycolysis was significantly lower with lipid-heparin infusion in all time periods, i.e., 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th h of clamps. In contrast, whole body glycogen synthesis was higher with lipid-heparin infusion in the 1st and 2nd h but lower in the 5th h. Similarly, accumulation of [3H]glycogen radioactivity in muscle glycogen was significantly higher with lipid-heparin during the 1st and 2nd h but lower during the 3rd and 5th h. Glucose 6-phosphate (G-6- P) concentrations in gastrocnemius muscles were significantly higher with lipid-heparin infusion throughout the clamps. Muscle glycogen synthase (GS) activity was not altered with lipid-heparin infusion at 1, 2, and 3 h but was significantly lower at 5 h. Thus increased availability of FFA significantly reduced whole body glycolysis, but compensatory increase in skeletal muscle glycogen synthesis in association with accumulation of G-6- P masked this effect, and Rd was not affected in the early phase (within 2 h) of lipid-heparin infusion. Rd was reduced in the later phase (>2 h) of lipid-heparin infusion, when glycogen synthesis was reduced in association with reduced skeletal muscle GS activity.


2006 ◽  
Vol 291 (3) ◽  
pp. E557-E565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiyan Yu ◽  
Michael F. Hirshman ◽  
Nobuharu Fujii ◽  
Jason M. Pomerleau ◽  
Lauren E. Peter ◽  
...  

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a heterotrimeric complex that works as an energy sensor to integrate nutritional and hormonal signals. The naturally occurring R225Q mutation in the γ3-subunit in pigs is associated with abnormally high glycogen content in skeletal muscle. Becauses skeletal muscle accounts for most of the body's glucose uptake, and γ3 is specifically expressed in skeletal muscle, it is important to understand the underlying mechanism of this mutation in regulating glucose and glycogen metabolism. Using skeletal muscle-specific transgenic mice overexpressing wild type γ3 (WTγ3) and R225Q mutant γ3 (MUTγ3), we show that both WTγ3 and MUTγ3 mice have 1.5- to 2-fold increases in muscle glycogen content. In WTγ3 mice, increased glycogen content was associated with elevated total glycogen synthase activity and reduced glycogen phosphorylase activity, whereas alterations in activities of these enzymes could not explain elevated glycogen in MUTγ3 mice. Basal, 5-aminoimidazole- AICAR- and phenformin-stimulated AMPKα2 isoform-specific activities were decreased only in MUTγ3 mice. Basal rates of 2-DG glucose uptake were decreased in both WTγ3 and MUTγ3 mice. However, AICAR- and phenformin-stimulated 2-DG glucose uptake were blunted only in MUTγ3 mice. In conclusion, expression of either wild type or mutant γ3-subunit of AMPK results in increased glycogen concentrations in muscle, but the mechanisms underlying this alteration appear to be different. Furthermore, mutation of the γ3-subunit is associated with decreases in AMPKα2 isoform-specific activity and impairment in AICAR- and phenformin-stimulated skeletal muscle glucose uptake.


2011 ◽  
Vol 301 (6) ◽  
pp. E1155-E1162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ee L. Lim ◽  
Kieren G. Hollingsworth ◽  
Fiona E. Smith ◽  
Peter E. Thelwall ◽  
Roy Taylor

Mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. We hypothesized that any impairment in insulin-stimulated muscle ATP production could merely reflect the lower rates of muscle glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis, rather than cause it. If this is correct, muscle ATP turnover rates in type 2 diabetes could be increased if glycogen synthesis rates were normalized by the mass-action effect of hyperglycemia. Isoglycemic- and hyperglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamps were performed on type 2 diabetic subjects and matched controls, with muscle ATP turnover and glycogen synthesis rates measured using 31P- and 13C-magnetic resonance spectroscopy, respectively. In diabetic subjects, hyperglycemia increased muscle glycogen synthesis rates to the level observed in controls at isoglycemia [from 19 ± 9 to 41 ± 12 μmol·l−1·min−1 ( P = 0.012) vs. 40 ± 7 μmol·l−1·min−1 in controls]. This was accompanied by a modest increase in muscle ATP turnover rates (7.1 ± 0.5 vs. 8.6 ± 0.7 μmol·l−1·min−1, P = 0.04). In controls, hyperglycemia brought about a 2.5-fold increase in glycogen synthesis rates (100 ± 24 vs. 40 ± 7 μmol·l−1·min−1, P = 0.028) and a 23% increase in ATP turnover rates (8.1 ± 0.9 vs. 10.0 ± 0.9 μmol·l−1·min−1, P = 0.025) from basal state. Muscle ATP turnover rates correlated positively with glycogen synthesis rates ( rs = 0.46, P = 0.005). Changing the rate of muscle glucose metabolism in type 2 diabetic subjects alters demand for ATP synthesis at rest. In type 2 diabetes, skeletal muscle ATP turnover rates reflect the rate of glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis, rather than any primary mitochondrial defect.


1996 ◽  
Vol 271 (2) ◽  
pp. E284-E293 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Cohen ◽  
M. Halberstam ◽  
L. Rossetti ◽  
H. Shamoon

The effects of physiological increments in epinephrine and insulin on glucose production (GP), skeletal muscle glycogen metabolism, and substrate oxidation were studied in eight insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and nine control subjects. Epinephrine was coinfused for the final 120 min of a 240-min euglycemic, hyperinsulinemic clamp. In both groups, insulin increased glucose uptake, glycogen synthesis, and whole body carbohydrate (CHO) oxidation and inhibited GP (by 70-80%) and lipid oxidation (by approximately 50%), whereas epinephrine antagonized the effect of insulin on glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis. In contrast, GP increased in IDDM subjects (P < 0.02) but remained suppressed by insulin in controls. CHO oxidation fell (1.37 +/- 0.25 vs. 2.08 +/- 0.32 mg.kg-1.min-1) and lipid oxidation increased to baseline in IDDM subjects, with increments in plasma free fatty acids (FFA) and glycerol. In contrast, in controls, plasma FFA and glycerol remained suppressed and lipid oxidation decreased further with epinephrine (P < 0.005). Epinephrine completely reversed insulin's activation of muscle glycogen synthase in both groups. Thus, during hyperinsulinemia, the hepatic response to epinephrine in IDDM subjects may be dependent on activation of lipid oxidation. Skeletal muscle glycogen metabolism is exquisitely sensitive to epinephrine despite the presence of hyperinsulinemia.


1981 ◽  
Vol 241 (5) ◽  
pp. C200-C203 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Ivy ◽  
J. O. Holloszy

The effect of a bout of exercise on glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis in skeletal muscle was examined using a perfused rat hindlimb preparation. Rats were subjected to a bout of swimming. The exercise stress was moderate as reflected in a reduction of muscle glycogen concentration of only 50%. Glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis were measured in perfused hindlimb muscles for a 30-min period beginning approximately 60 min following the exercise. The rate of glucose uptake in the absence of insulin was 10-fold higher in hindlimbs of exercised animals than in the controls. The rate of glucose uptake was also higher in exercised than in control muscles in the presence of 50 microunits/ml or 10 mU/ml of insulin, but these differences were smaller than that found in the absence of insulin. Conversion to glycogen was the major pathway for disposal of the glucose taken up by muscle. The rate of glycogen accumulation in the exercised plantaris muscles was greater than in the control muscles both in the absence and presence of insulin.


2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 1633-1646 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsutomu Wada ◽  
Toshiyasu Sasaoka ◽  
Makoto Funaki ◽  
Hiroyuki Hori ◽  
Shihou Murakami ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase plays an important role in various metabolic actions of insulin including glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis. Although PI 3-kinase primarily functions as a lipid kinase which preferentially phosphorylates the D-3 position of phospholipids, the effect of hydrolysis of the key PI 3-kinase product PI 3,4,5-triphosphate [PI(3,4,5)P3] on these biological responses is unknown. We recently cloned rat SH2-containing inositol phosphatase 2 (SHIP2) cDNA which possesses the 5′-phosphatase activity to hydrolyze PI(3,4,5)P3 to PI 3,4-bisphosphate [PI(3,4)P2] and which is mainly expressed in the target tissues of insulin. To study the role of SHIP2 in insulin signaling, wild-type SHIP2 (WT-SHIP2) and 5′-phosphatase-defective SHIP2 (ΔIP-SHIP2) were overexpressed in 3T3-L1 adipocytes by means of adenovirus-mediated gene transfer. Early events of insulin signaling including insulin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor β subunit and IRS-1, IRS-1 association with the p85 subunit, and PI 3-kinase activity were not affected by expression of either WT-SHIP2 or ΔIP-SHIP2. Because WT-SHIP2 possesses the 5′-phosphatase catalytic region, its overexpression marked by decreased insulin-induced PI(3,4,5)P3 production, as expected. In contrast, the amount of PI(3,4,5)P3 was increased by the expression of ΔIP-SHIP2, indicating that ΔIP-SHIP2 functions in a dominant-negative manner in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Both PI(3,4,5)P3 and PI(3,4)P2 were known to possibly activate downstream targets Akt and protein kinase Cλ in vitro. Importantly, expression of WT-SHIP2 inhibited insulin-induced activation of Akt and protein kinase Cλ, whereas these activations were increased by expression of ΔIP-SHIP2 in vivo. Consistent with the regulation of downstream molecules of PI 3-kinase, insulin-induced 2-deoxyglucose uptake and Glut4 translocation were decreased by expression of WT-SHIP2 and increased by expression of ΔIP-SHIP2. In addition, insulin-induced phosphorylation of GSK-3β and activation of PP1 followed by activation of glycogen synthase and glycogen synthesis were decreased by expression of WT-SHIP2 and increased by the expression of ΔIP-SHIP2. These results indicate that SHIP2 negatively regulates metabolic signaling of insulin via the 5′-phosphatase activity and that PI(3,4,5)P3 rather than PI(3,4)P2 is important for in vivo regulation of insulin-induced activation of downstream molecules of PI 3-kinase leading to glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis.


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