Insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of the Akt substrate AS160 is impaired in skeletal muscle of type 2 diabetic subjects.

AS160 is a newly described substrate for the protein kinase Akt that links insulin signaling and GLUT4 trafficking. In this study, we determined the expression of and in vivo insulin action on AS160 in human skeletal muscle. In addition, we compared the effect of physiological hyperinsulinemia on AS160 phosphorylation in 10 lean-to-moderately obese type 2 diabetic and 9 healthy subjects.

Role of AMP--activated protein kinase in the control of glucose homeostasis.

Skeletal muscle insulin resistance is a hallmark feature of Type 2 diabetes. Physical exercise/muscle contraction elicits an insulin-independent increase in glucose transport and perturbation of this pathway may bypass defective insulin signaling. To date, the exercise-responsive signaling molecules governing glucose metabolism in skeletal muscle are largely unknown.

Enhanced insulin-stimulated glycogen synthesis in response to insulin, metformin or rosiglitazone is associated with increased mRNA expression of GLUT4 and peroxisomal proliferator activator receptor gamma co-activator 1.

Aims/hypothesis: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of several antidiabetic agents on insulin-stimulated glycogen synthesis, as well as on mRNA expression.

Methods: Cultured primary human skeletal myotubes obtained from six healthy subjects were treated for 4 or 8 days without or with glucose (25 mmol/l), insulin (400 pmol/l), rosiglitazone (10 micromol/l), metformin (20 micromol/l) or the AMP-activated kinase activator 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleoside (AICAR) (200 micromol/l). After this, insulin-stimulated glycogen synthesis was determined.

5'-AMP-activated protein kinase regulates skeletal muscle glycogen content and ergogenics.

5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity is increased during exercise in an intensity- and glycogen-dependent manner. We previously reported that a mutation in the AMPK3 subunit (Prkag3225Q) increases AMPK activity and skeletal muscle glycogen content. Transfection experiments revealed the R225Q mutation is associated with high basal AMPK activity and diminished AMP dependence.

Effects of metformin and rosiglitazone treatment on insulin signaling and glucose uptake in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled study.

The effect of metformin or rosiglitazone monotherapy versus placebo on insulin signaling and gene expression in skeletal muscle of patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes was determined. A euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp, combined with skeletal muscle biopsies and glucose uptake measurements over rested and exercised muscle, was performed before and after 26 weeks of metformin (n = 9), rosiglitazone (n = 10), or placebo (n = 11) treatment. Insulin-mediated whole-body and leg muscle glucose uptake was enhanced 36 and 32%, respectively, after rosiglitazone (P < 0.

Direct activation of glucose transport in primary human myotubes after activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta.

Activators of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)gamma have been studied intensively for their insulin-sensitizing properties and antidiabetic effects. Recently, a specific PPARdelta activator (GW501516) was reported to attenuate plasma glucose and insulin levels when administered to genetically obese ob/ob mice. This study was performed to determine whether specific activation of PPARdelta has direct effects on insulin action in skeletal muscle.

Insulin signal transduction in human skeletal muscle: identifying the defects in Type II diabetes.

Type II diabetes is characterized by defects in insulin action on peripheral tissues, such as skeletal muscle, adipose tissue and liver and pancreatic beta-cell defects. Since the skeletal muscle accounts for approx. 75% of whole body insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, defects in this tissue play a major role in the impaired glucose homoeostasis in Type II diabetic patients.

Skeletal muscle fiber type: influence on contractile and metabolic properties.

Zierath and Hawley discuss how different fiber types affect muscle metabolism and what the signals are that regulate muscle phenotype

Exercise-induced mitogen-activated protein kinase signalling in skeletal muscle.

Exercise training improves glucose homeostasis through enhanced insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle. Muscle contraction through physical exercise is a physiological stimulus that elicits multiple biochemical and biophysical responses and therefore requires an appropriate control network. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling pathways constitute a network of phosphorylation cascades that link cellular stress to changes in transcriptional activity.

The 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase gamma3 isoform has a key role in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in glycolytic skeletal muscle.

5'-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a metabolic stress sensor present in all eukaryotes. A dominant missense mutation (R225Q) in pig PRKAG3, encoding the muscle-specific gamma3 isoform, causes a marked increase in glycogen content. To determine the functional role of the AMPK gamma3 isoform, we generated transgenic mice with skeletal muscle-specific expression of wild type or mutant (225Q) mouse gamma3 as well as Prkag3 knockout mice.

Sending the signal: molecular mechanisms regulating glucose uptake.

The molecular signaling mechanisms by which insulin leads to increased glucose transport and metabolism and gene expression are not completely elucidated. We have characterized the nature of insulin signaling defects in skeletal muscle from Type 2 diabetic patients. Insulin receptor substrate (IRS-1) phosphorylation, phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase activity, and glucose transport activity are impaired as a consequence of functional defects, whereas insulin receptor tyrosine phosphorylation, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) phosphorylation, and glycogen synthase activity are normal.

Effects of insulin, contraction, and phorbol esters on mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling in skeletal muscle from lean and ob/ob mice.

Effects of diverse stimuli, including insulin, muscle contraction, and phorbol 12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA), were determined on phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling modules (c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase [JNK], p38 MAPK, and extracellular signal-related kinase [ERK1/2]) in skeletal muscle from lean and ob/ob mice. Insulin increased phosphorylation of JNK, p38 MAPK, and ERK1/2 in isolated extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and soleus muscle from lean mice in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Muscle contraction and PMA also elicited robust effects on these parallel MAPK modules.

Prior serum- and AICAR-induced AMPK activation in primary human myocytes does not lead to subsequent increase in insulin-stimulated glucose uptake.

Exposing isolated rat skeletal muscle to 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-beta-D-ribofuranoside [AICAR, a pharmacological activator of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)] plus serum leads to a subsequent increase in insulin-stimulated glucose transport (Fisher JS, Gao J, Han DH, Holloszy JO, and Nolte LA. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 282: E18-E23, 2002). Our goal was to determine whether preincubation of primary human skeletal muscle cells with human serum and AICAR (Serum+AICAR) would also induce a subsequent elevation in insulin-stimulated glucose uptake.

Dissociation between fat-induced in vivo insulin resistance and proximal insulin signaling in skeletal muscle in men at risk for type 2 diabetes.

The effect of short- (2 h) and long-term (24 h) low-grade Intralipid infusion on whole-body insulin action, cellular glucose metabolism, and proximal components of the insulin signal transduction cascade was studied in seven obese male glucose intolerant first degree relatives of type 2 diabetic patients [impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) relatives] and eight matched control subjects. Indirect calorimetry and excision of vastus lateralis skeletal muscle biopsies were performed before and during hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamps combined with 3[(3)H]glucose. Clamps were performed after 0, 2, or 24 h Intralipid infusion (0.

Branched-chain amino acids increase p70S6k phosphorylation in human skeletal muscle after resistance exercise.

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of resistance exercise alone or in combination with oral intake of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) on phosphorylation of the 70-kDa S6 protein kinase (p70(S6k)) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2), and p38 MAPK in skeletal muscle. Seven male subjects performed one session of quadriceps muscle resistance training (4 x 10 repetitions at 80% of one repetition maximum) on two occasions. In a randomized order, double-blind, crossover test, subjects ingested a solution of BCAA or placebo during and after exercise.

MEF2 activation in differentiated primary human skeletal muscle cultures requires coordinated involvement of parallel pathways.

The myocyte enhancer factor (MEF)2 transcription factor is important for development of differentiated skeletal muscle. We investigated the regulation of MEF2 DNA binding in differentiated primary human skeletal muscle cells and isolated rat skeletal muscle after exposure to various stimuli. MEF2 DNA binding activity in nonstimulated (basal) muscle cultures was almost undetectable.

Integration of metabolic and mitogenic signal transduction in skeletal muscle.

Exercise has diverse effects on metabolic and mitogenic signaling pathways in human skeletal muscle, implying specificity of intracellular signaling cascades. The role of several parallel signaling cascades are discussed in an effort to assign a physiological role for these targets in the regulation of exercise-mediated responses on metabolism and gene expression.

Insulin action on expression of novel adipose genes in healthy and type 2 diabetic subjects.

Objective: Adipose tissue secretes several molecules that may participate in metabolic cross-talk to other insulin-sensitive tissues. Thus, adipose tissue is a key endocrine organ that regulates insulin sensitivity in other peripheral insulin target tissues. We have studied the expression and acute insulin regulation of novel genes expressed in adipose tissue that are implicated in the control of whole body insulin sensitivity.

Exercise-induced protein kinase C isoform-specific activation in human skeletal muscle.

We determined whether protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms are redistributed and phosphorylated in response to acute exercise in skeletal muscle. Muscle biopsies were obtained from six healthy subjects (four women, two men; age 25 +/- 1 years) before, during, and after 60 min of one-leg cycle ergometry at approximately 70% VO(2peak). Exercise for 30 and 60 min was associated with a three- and fourfold increase in PKC-zeta/lambda abundance and a four- and threefold increase in phosphorylation, respectively, in total membranes (P < 0.

Expression profiling of the gamma-subunit isoforms of AMP-activated protein kinase suggests a major role for gamma3 in white skeletal muscle.

Expression patterns of the three isoforms of the regulatory gamma-subunit of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) were determined in various tissues from adult humans, mice, and rats, as well as in human primary muscle cells. Real-time PCR-based quantification of mRNA showed similar expression patterns in the three species and a good correlation with protein expression in mice and rats. The gamma3-isoform appeared highly specific to skeletal muscle, whereas gamma1 and gamma2 showed broad tissue distributions.