Protein Kinase B/Akt Participates in GLUT4 Translocation by Insulin in L6 Myoblasts

Abstract

L6 myoblasts stably transfected with a GLUT4 cDNA harboring an exofacial myc epitope tag (L6-GLUT4myc myoblasts) were used to study the role of protein kinase B alpha (PKBα)/Akt1 in the insulin-induced translocation of GLUT4 to the cell surface. Surface GLUT4myc was detected by immunofluorescent labeling of the myc epitope in nonpermeabilized cells. Insulin induced a marked translocation of GLUT4myc to the plasma membrane within 20 min. This was prevented by transient transfection of a dominant inhibitory construct of phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase (Δp85α). Transiently transfected cells were identified by cotransfection of green fluorescent protein. A constitutively active PKBα, created by fusion of a viral Gag protein at its N terminus (GagPKB), increased the cell surface density of GLUT4myc compared to that of neighboring nontransfected cells. A kinase-inactive, phosphorylation-deficient PKBα/Akt1 construct with the mutations K179A (substitution of alanine for the lysine at position 179), T308A, and S473A (AAA-PKB) behaved as a dominant-negative inhibitor of insulin-dependent activation of cotransfected wild-type hemagglutinin (HA)-tagged PKB. Furthermore, AAA-PKB markedly inhibited the insulin-induced phosphorylation of cotransfected BAD, demonstrating inhibition of the endogenous PKB/Akt. Under the same conditions, AAA-PKB almost entirely blocked the insulin-dependent increase in surface GLUT4myc. PKBα with alanine substitutions T308A and S473A (AA-PKB) or K179A (A-PKB) alone was a less potent inhibitor of insulin-dependent activation of wild-type HA-PKB or GLUT4myc translocation than was AAA-PKB. Cotransfection of AAA-PKB with a fourfold DNA excess of HA-PKB rescued insulin-stimulated GLUT4myc translocation. AAA-PKB did not prevent actin bundling (membrane ruffling), though this response was PI 3-kinase dependent. Therefore, it is unlikely that AAA-PKB acted by inhibiting PI 3-kinase signaling. These results outline an important role for PKBα/Akt1 in the stimulation of glucose transport by insulin in muscle cells in culture.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by a grant from the Medical Research Council of Canada to A.K. (MT7307). Q.W. was supported by a fellowship from the Eli Lilly/Banting & Best Diabetes Centre Research Personnel Awards Program.

We thank Gary Sweeney for helpful discussions. We are also grateful to Paul Coffer for the GagPKB construct, Julian Downward for the Δp85α construct, Robert Farese for the Ha-PKCζ construct, and Richard Roth for advice on the PKB in vitro kinase assay.

Q.W. and R.S. contributed equally to this study.