Activation of glycogen synthase in skeletal muscle: effects of insulin in slow- and fast-twitch muscles in vivo

1997 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 102S-102S
Author(s):  
Lee G. D. Fryer ◽  
Mark J. Holness ◽  
Mary C. Sugden
2003 ◽  
Vol 285 (5) ◽  
pp. E1081-E1088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kei Sakamoto ◽  
William G. Aschenbach ◽  
Michael F. Hirshman ◽  
Laurie J. Goodyear

Akt/protein kinase B is a serine/threonine kinase that has emerged as a critical signaling component for mediating numerous cellular responses. Contractile activity has recently been demonstrated to stimulate Akt signaling in skeletal muscle. Whether physiological exercise in vivo activates Akt is controversial, and the initiating factors that result in the stimulation of Akt during contractile activity are unknown. In the current study, we demonstrate that treadmill running exercise of rats using two different protocols (intermediate high or high-intensity exhaustive exercise) significantly increases Akt activity and phosphorylation in skeletal muscle composed of various fiber types. To determine if Akt activation during contractile activity is triggered by mechanical forces applied to the skeletal muscle, isolated skeletal muscles were incubated and passively stretched. Passive stretch for 10 min significantly increased Akt activity (2-fold) in the fast-twitch extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle. However, stretch had no effect on Akt in the slow-twitch soleus muscle, although there was a robust phosphorylation of the stress-activated protein kinase p38. Similar to contraction, stretch-induced Akt activation in the EDL was fully inhibited in the presence of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor wortmannin, whereas glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) phosphorylation was only partially inhibited. Stretch did not cause dephosphorylation of glycogen synthase on GSK3-targeted sites in the absence or presence of wortmannin. We conclude that physiological exercise in vivo activates Akt in multiple skeletal muscle fiber types and that mechanical tension may be a part of the mechanism by which contraction activates Akt in fast-twitch muscles.


1997 ◽  
Vol 273 (3) ◽  
pp. E479 ◽  
Author(s):  
M C Sugden ◽  
M J Holness ◽  
L G Fryer

Glucose 6-phosphate (G-6-P)-independent glycogen synthase (GSa) and glycogen synthase (GS) total activities were measured in muscles from 24-h-starved rats. Intravenous glucose tolerance tests (0.5 g/kg body wt) were used to produce physiological, transient increases in insulin and glucose concentrations. GS activation occurred at approximately 10 min after glucose administration with peak activation at approximately 15 min. GS activation was reversed approximately 15 min after insulin and glucose concentrations had returned to basal. No differences existed between fast- and slow-twitch muscles. Hyperinsulinemia (approximately 160 mU/ml) in the absence of hyperglycemia elicited 1.5-fold activation of GS (P < 0.001) in two of three fast-twitch muscles but did not activate GS in slow-twitch muscles. Glucose infusion (glycemia approximately 8 mM; insulin approximately 40 mU/ml) significantly (P < 0.01) increased the percentage of total GS in the GSa form in four of the five muscles. Hyperglycemia with modest hyperinsulinemia evoked greater enhancement of GSa activity in fast-twitch muscle than insulin alone at a higher concentration (P < 0.01). In summary, hyperinsulinemia without hyperglycemia does not result in maximal activation of GS in fast-twitch muscle, and a rise in glycemia is obligatory for GS activation by insulin in slow-twitch muscle. The data support an important role for glycemia in modulating the response of skeletal muscle GS to insulin and provide further evidence of heterogeneity among skeletal muscle types.


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.


1987 ◽  
Vol 252 (2) ◽  
pp. E248-E254
Author(s):  
T. Gremeaux ◽  
J. F. Tanti ◽  
E. Van Obberghen ◽  
Y. Le Marchand-Brustel

Polymyxin B (PMB), a cyclic decapeptide antibiotic, inhibits the hypoglycemic effect of insulin in vivo. To elucidate the mechanism of PMB action, we have studied its effect in vitro on insulin-stimulated pathways in the mouse skeletal muscle. PMB, added to the incubation mixture, specifically inhibited insulin-stimulated 2-deoxyglucose transport and alpha-aminoisobutyric acid uptake in the isolated soleus muscle but did not affect the basal rates of transport (measured in the absence of insulin). PMB did not alter insulin binding and hexokinase activity. PMB effect was observed at all deoxyglucose concentrations tested, and PMB was also able to inhibit vanadate-stimulated glucose transport. By contrast, insulin activation of glycogen synthase was not prevented by PMB. Basal and maximally insulin-stimulated insulin receptor tyrosine kinase activity, tested in a cell-free system, was similar for both autophosphorylation and phosphorylation of exogenous substrates in the absence or in the presence of PMB. Furthermore, the insulin sensitivity of the kinase was increased in the presence of PMB. Our results suggest that the anti-insulin effect of PMB observed in vivo is due to an inhibition of insulin-stimulated glucose transport in the skeletal muscle perhaps through a specific blockade of the insulin-induced translocation of the glucose carriers.


2000 ◽  
Vol 278 (2) ◽  
pp. E234-E243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iñaki Azpiazu ◽  
Jill Manchester ◽  
Alexander V. Skurat ◽  
Peter J. Roach ◽  
John C. Lawrence

The effects of transgenic overexpression of glycogen synthase in different types of fast-twitch muscle fibers were investigated in individual fibers from the anterior tibialis muscle. Glycogen synthase was severalfold higher in all transgenic fibers, although the extent of overexpression was twofold greater in type IIB fibers. Effects of the transgene on increasing glycogen and phosphorylase and on decreasing UDP-glucose were also more pronounced in type IIB fibers. However, in any grouping of fibers having equivalent malate dehydrogenase activity (an index of oxidative potential), glycogen was higher in the transgenic fibers. Thus increasing synthase is sufficient to enhance glycogen accumulation in all types of fast-twitch fibers. Effects on glucose transport and glycogen synthesis were investigated in experiments in which diaphragm, extensor digitorum longus (EDL), and soleus muscles were incubated in vitro. Transport was not increased by the transgene in any of the muscles. The transgene increased basal [14C]glucose into glycogen by 2.5-fold in the EDL, which is composed primarily of IIB fibers. The transgene also enhanced insulin-stimulated glycogen synthesis in the diaphragm and soleus muscles, which are composed of oxidative fiber types. We conclude that increasing glycogen synthase activity increases the rate of glycogen synthesis in both oxidative and glycolytic fibers, implying that the control of glycogen accumulation by insulin in skeletal muscle is distributed between the glucose transport and glycogen synthase steps.


2007 ◽  
Vol 459 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Sacchetto ◽  
Elisa Bovo ◽  
Leonardo Salviati ◽  
Ernesto Damiani ◽  
Alfredo Margreth

1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Savary ◽  
Elisabeth Debras ◽  
Dominique Dardevet ◽  
Claire Sornet ◽  
Pierre Capitan ◽  
...  

This study was carried out to analyse glucocorticoid-induced muscle wasting and subsequent recovery in adult (6-8 months) and old (18-24 months) rats because the increased incidence of various disease states results in hypersecretion of glucocorticoids in ageing. Adult and old rats received dexamethasone in their drinking water for 5 or 6 d and were then allowed to recover for 3 or 7 d. As dexamethasone decreased food intake, all groups were pair-fed to dexamethasonetreated old rats (i.e. the group that had the lowest food intake). At the end of the treatment, adult and old rats showed significant increases in blood glucose and plasma insulin concentrations. This increase disappeared during the recovery period. Protein synthesis of different muscles was assessed in vivo by a flooding dose of [13C]valine injected subcutaneously 50 min before slaughter. Dexamethasone induced a significant decrease in protein synthesis in fast-twitch glycolytic and oxidative glycolytic muscles (gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior, extensor digitorum longus). The treatment affected mostly ribosomal efficiency. Adult dexamethasone-treated rats showed an increase in protein synthesis compared with their pair-fed controls during the recovery period whereas old rats did not. Dexamethasone also significantly decreased protein synthesis in the predominantly oxidative soleus muscle but only in old rats, and increased protein synthesis in the heart of adult but not of old rats. Thus, in skeletal muscle, the catabolic effect of dexamethasone is maintained or amplified during ageing whereas the anabolic effect in heart is depressed. These results are consistent with muscle atrophy occurring with ageing.


Glycogen metabolism in mammalian skeletal muscle is controlled by a regulatory network in which six protein kinases, four protein phosphatases and several thermostable regulatory proteins determine the activation state of glycogen phosphorylase and glycogen synthase, the rate-limiting enzymes of this process. Thirteen phosphorylation sites are involved, twelve of which have been isolated and sequenced and shown to be phosphorylated in vivo . The effects of adrenalin and insulin on the state of phosphorylation of each site have been determined. The neural control of glycogen metabolism is mediated by calcium ions and involves phosphorylase kinase, and a specific calmodulin-dependent glycogen synthase kinase. The β-adrenergic control of the system is mediated by cyclic AMP, and involves the phosphorylation of phosphorylase kinase, glycogen synthase and inhibitor 1 by cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase. Inhibitor 1 is a specific inhibitor of protein phosphatase 1, the major phosphatase involved in the control of glycogen metabolism. The stimulation of glycogen synthesis by insulin results from the dephosphorylation of glycogen synthase at sites (3 a + 3 b + 3 c ), which are introduced by the enzyme glycogen synthase kinase 3. The structure, regulation and substrate specificities of the protein phosphatases involved in glycogen metabolism are reviewed. Protein phosphatase 1 can exist in an inactive form termed the Mg-ATP-dependent protein phosphatase, which consists of a complex between the catalytic subunit and a thermostable protein termed inhibitor 2. Activation of this complex is catalysed by glycogen synthase kinase 3. It involves the phosphorylation of inhibitor 2 and its dissociation from the catalytic subunit. Protein phosphatase 2A can be resolved into three forms by ion exchange chromatography. These species contain the same catalytic subunit and other subunits that may have a regulatory function. Protein phosphatase 2B is a Ca 2+ -dependent enzyme composed of two subunits, A and B. Its activity is increased tenfold by calmodulin, which interacts with the A-subunit. The B-subunit is a Ca 2+ -binding protein that is homologous with calmodulin. Its N-terminus contains the unusual myristyl blocking group, only found previously in the catalytic subunit of cyclic-AMP-dependent protein kinase. Protein phosphatase 2C is a Mg 2+ -dependent enzyme that accounts for a very small proportion of the glycogen synthase phosphatase activity in skeletal muscle. It is likely to be involved in the regulation of other metabolic processes in vivo such as cholesterol synthesis. Recent evidence suggests that many of the proteins involved in the control of glycogen metabolism have much wider roles, and that they participate in the neural and hormonal regulation of a variety of intracellular processes.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document