Activation of protein kinase C zeta induces serine phosphorylation of VAMP2 in the GLUT4 compartment and increases glucose transport in skeletal muscle
L. Braiman et al., Activation of protein kinase C zeta induces serine phosphorylation of VAMP2 in the GLUT4 compartment and increases glucose transport in skeletal muscle, MOL CELL B, 21(22), 2001, pp. 7852-7861
Insulin stimulates glucose uptake into skeletal muscle tissue mainly throug
h the translocation of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) to the plasma membrane
. The precise mechanism involved in this process is presently unknown. In t
he cascade of events leading to insulin-induced glucose transport, insulin
activates specific protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms. In this study we invest
igated the roles of PKC zeta in insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and GLUT4
translocation in primary cultures of rat skeletal muscle. We found that in
sulin initially caused PKC zeta to associate specifically with the GLUT4 co
mpartments and that PKC zeta together with the GLUT4 compartments were then
translocated to the plasma membrane as a complex. PKC zeta and GLUT4 recyc
led independently of one another. To further establish the importance of PK
C zeta in glucose transport, we used adenovirus constructs containing wild-
type or kinase-inactive, dominant-negative PKC zeta (DNPKC zeta) cDNA to ov
erexpress this isoform. in skeletal muscle myotube cultures. We found that
overexpression of PKC zeta was associated with a marked increase in the act
ivity of this isoform. The overexpressed, active PKC zeta coprecipitated wi
th the GLUT4 compartments. Moreover, overexpression of PKC zeta caused GLUT
4 translocation to the plasma membrane and increased glucose uptake in the
absence of insulin. Finally, either insulin or overexpression of PKC zeta i
nduced serine phosphorylation of the GLUT4-compartment-associated vesicle-a
ssociated membrane protein 2. Furthermore, DNPKC zeta disrupted the GLUT4 c
ompartment integrity and abrogated insulin-induced GLUT4 translocation and
glucose uptake. These results demonstrate that PKC zeta regulates insulin-s
timulated GLUT4 translocation and glucose transport through the unique colo
calization of this isoform with the GLUT4 compartments.