title: Insulin increases the association of Akt-2 with Glut4-containing vesicles.
abstract: Expression of a constitutively active, membrane-associated Akt-1 (PKB alpha) construct in 3T3L1 adipocytes was shown to induce glucose uptake in the absence of insulin by stimulating Glut4 translocation to the plasma membrane (Kohn, A. D., Summers, S. A., Birnbaum, M. J., and Roth, R. A. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 31372-31378). However, in rat fat cell the vast majority of Akt-1 is cytosolic and shows no re-distribution to the plasma membrane in response to insulin. On the other hand, little work has been done with other Akt family members such as Akt-2 (PKB beta) or Akt-3 (PKB gamma). In this report, an analysis of the subcellular distribution of Akt-2 in rat adipocytes shows that Akt-2 is present in significant amounts in various membrane compartments, as well as in the cytosol, and the former include the light microsomes where Glut4 is present in the basal state. The distribution of Akt-2 in resting adipocytes was found to substantially overlap with that of Glut4 when light microsomes were subfractionated by a sucrose velocity gradient indicating possible co-localization. We confirmed co-localization of Akt-2 and Glut4 in the basal state by immunopurification of Glut4 vesicles, which exhibited a 5.5-fold increase in Akt-2 in response to insulin relative to the amount of Glut4. These results are consistent with the possibility that Akt-2 may be involved in Glut4 vesicle translocation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Calera
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Jack
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Birnbaum
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Pilch
mesh_terms: D017667:Adipocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000730:Androstadienes / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D051275:Glucose Transporter Type 4; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007328:Insulin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D015513:Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D000077191:Wortmannin
chemical_list: D000730:Androstadienes; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D051275:Glucose Transporter Type 4; D007328:Insulin; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins; D009124:Muscle Proteins; D015513:Oncogene Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; C495694:Slc2a4 protein, rat; C494920:Akt1 protein, rat; C494923:Akt2 protein, rat; C111490:Akt3 protein, rat; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D000077191:Wortmannin