La. Megeney et al., EXPRESSION OF THE INSULIN-REGULATABLE TRANSPORTER GLUT-4 IN MUSCLE ISINFLUENCED BY NEUROGENIC FACTORS, The American journal of physiology, 266(5), 1994, pp. 50000813-50000816
To investigate whether the expression of GLUT-4 is influenced by neuro
genic factor(s) released from the nerve to the muscle, we measured GLU
T-4 at different time points after sectioning the sciatic nerve at dif
ferent locations in two groups of rats. Specifically, GLUT-4 was measu
red at 12, 24, and 48 h after severing the sciatic nerve. In one group
of animals the muscles were left either with a short nerve stump atta
ched to the muscle, or, in another group of animals, a long nerve stum
p remained attached to the muscle. In both groups of animals the contr
alateral limb served as a control. We examined GLUT-4 in the red (RG)
and white gastrocnemius (WG), since the RG is highly responsive to den
ervation and the WG is quite resistant to denervation [L. A. Megeney,
P. D. Neufer, G. L. Dohm, M. H. Tan, C. A. Blewtt, G. C. B. Elder, and
A. Bonen. Am. J. Physiol. 264 (Endocrinol. Metab. 27): E583-E593, 199
3]. In the long nerve stump WG no change in GLUT-4 was observed at 12,
24, or 48 h after denervation (P > 0.05). In the short nerve stump WG
, changes were not evident at 12 and 24 h (P > 0.05), but by 48 h a si
gnificant decrement (-12.7 +/- 6.7%) was observed (P < 0.05). GLUT-4 c
hanges were only evident 48 h after denervation (-19.8 +/- 4.5%; P < 0
.05) in the long nerve stump RG. In contrast, in the short nerve stump
RG, changes occurred much more rapidly; already 24 h after denervatio
n a large decrease in GLUT-4 (-35.5 +/- 6.7%) had occurred (P < 0.05,
which did not change during the next 24 h. Given that GLUT-4 decrement
s occurred more rapidly in denervated muscles with a short nerve stump
than in those with a long nerve stump, our studies suggest that neuro
genic factor(s) released from the nerve influences GLUT-4 expression.