Glycogen synthase: activation by insulin and effect of transgenic overexpression in skeletal muscle.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J Manchester.
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To investigate the role of glycogen synthase in controlling glycogen accumulation, we generated three lines of transgenic mice in which the enzyme was overexpressed in skeletal muscle by using promoter-enhancer elements derived from the mouse muscle creatine kinase gene. In all three lines, expression was highest in muscles composed primarily of fast-twitch fibers, such as the gastrocnemius and anterior tibialis. In these muscles, glycogen synthase activity was increased by as much as 10-fold, with concomitant increases (up to 5-fold) in the glycogen content. The uridine diphosphoglucose concentrations were markedly decreased, consistent with the increase in glycogen synthase activity. Levels of glycogen phosphorylase in these muscles increased (up to 3-fold), whereas the amount of the insulin-sensitive glucose transporter 4 either remained unchanged or decreased. The observation that increasing glycogen synthase enhances glycogen accumulation supports the conclusion that the activation of glycogen synthase, as well as glucose transport, contributes to the accumulation of glycogen in response to insulin in skeletal muscle.
An approach involving microinjection and microanalysis has been developed to investigate signal-transduction pathways involved in the hormonal control of metabolism. We have applied this strategy to investigate the role of Ras signaling in the acute activation of glucose transport by insulin in cardiac myocytes. Glucose transport activity was assessed by measuring the initial rate of accumulation of 2-deoxyglucose 6-phosphate (dGlc6P) in individual cells after incubation in 2-deoxyglucose. Insulin increased accumulation of dGlc6P by 3- to 4-fold, consistent with its stimulatory effect on glucose transport. Accumulation of dGlc6P was increased severalfold by microinjecting the nonhydrolyzable GTP analogue, guanosine 5'-[gamma-thio]triphosphate, which activates members of the Ras superfamily of GTP-binding proteins. Injecting activated Ha-Ras protein also mimicked insulin by increasing dGlc6P; whereas, injecting a Ras protein lacking the COOH-terminal site of fatty acylation required for Ras function was without effect. Introducing the neutralizing Ras antibody Y13-259 into cells attenuated the effect of insulin. These findings implicate Ras in the acute regulation of metabolism by insulin.
Glucose transport and phosphorylation are the first steps in the utilization of extracellular glucose by skeletal muscle. We have examined the relationships between proteins mediating these steps in single fibers of identified type dissected from rabbit skeletal muscle. The level of the glucose transporter isoform GLUT4, measured by immunoblotting, varied among fibers by a factor of 20 (slow oxidative > fast oxidative glycolytic > fast glycolytic). In fibers from the tibialis anterior muscle, GLUT4 was correlated (r2 = 0.75) with the activity of malate dehydrogenase, an enzyme representative of oxidative energy metabolism. In these fibers a strong correlation (r2 = 0.70) was also observed between GLUT4 and hexokinase activity. GLUT1 levels were barely detectable, regardless of fiber type. To investigate the possible role of muscle activity in controlling the expression of transporters, tibialis anterior muscles were activated by chronic electrical stimulation of the peroneal nerves. GLUT1 levels increased after 1 day of stimulation to a plateau that was severalfold higher than the level in non-stimulated cells. Hexokinase activity and the GLUT4 level changed in parallel: both were increased by approximately 2.5-fold after 1 day and by 14-fold after 21 days. Thus, while both GLUT1 and GLUT4 were regulated by muscle activity, only GLUT4 expression was coordinated with the expression of hexokinase.
Microanalytic methods were used to investigate the regulation of glucose metabolism by insulin in single myocytes isolated from adult rat ventricles. Cultured myocytes were incubated with or without insulin and, with either glucose or 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG), rinsed, and freeze-dried. Individual cells were weighed and levels of 2-DG-6-phosphate (2-DG-6-P) or glucose and glucose 6-phosphate (G-6-P) were determined after enzymatic amplification. In cells incubated with 2-DG, insulin increased the level of 2-DG-6-P by as much as 30-fold, indicative of dramatic activation of glucose transport. In cells incubated with glucose, insulin increased the levels of G-6-P by approximately threefold. Increasing extracellular glucose without insulin also increased G-6-P; however, intracellular glucose concentrations were not increased, indicating that glucose transport is rate limiting in nonstimulated myocytes. In contrast, intracellular glucose concentrations were increased by over an order of magnitude by insulin, reaching 60% of the extracellular glucose concentration. Measurements of glucose and G-6-P in the same insulin-treated cells revealed that accumulation of G-6-P reached a plateau when extracellular glucose was increased > 2 mM. At this point the estimated intracellular glucose concentration was 300 microM, or approximately 10 times the Michaelis constant of hexokinase for glucose. These results indicate that in the presence of insulin and physiological concentrations of glucose, hexokinase is saturated with glucose. Consequently, the rate-limiting step for insulin-stimulated glucose utilization is glucose phosphorylation rather than glucose transport.
Based on an expressed need for an evaluation tool or quality assurance measurements for occupational health programs, a committee of occupational health nurses was established. The committee acknowledge the importance of developing an evaluation tool that would be helpful to occupational health nurses in any setting, considering the diverse responsibilities and functions. A thorough review of the literature was conducted to identify available documents and resources for quality assurance measurements in health care facilities, and in particular, occupational health settings. The literature review indicated that most of the quality assurance programs were designed for the hospital setting. Utilizing the AAOHN standards, job descriptions and the AIHA audit tool for occupational health programs, the final 10 page assessment guide was developed and designed for use by occupational health nurses working alone or in a multiple nurse setting and by nurse managers. It is the intent of the committee that the assessment guide would provide a stimulus for further research and development of the tool by other occupational health nurse.
This study examined age (35-55 versus 65-85), gender, and self-concept-orientation differences in reasoning about the self, relationships, and morality, on the basis of the theorizing of Gilligan (1982). Participants were interviewed about general relationship issues, a specific relationship, and about the self. Reasoning was scored for integrative complexity (Suedfeld & Tetlock, 1977). Life experience measures and the standard Kohlberg justice reasoning index were obtained. Results showed gender differences in the connectedness of the self-concept for middle-aged, but not older, adults. No age or gender differences in the complexity of relationship reasoning or in justice reasoning were found. Those with more connected self-concepts reasoned in more complex ways about relationships and about the self.
A method is presented for measuring rapid changes in the rate of glucose phosphorylation in mouse brain with nonradioactive 2-deoxyglucose (DG). After times as short as 1 min after DG injection, the mouse is frozen rapidly, and selected brain regions are analyzed enzymatically for DG, 2-deoxyglucose 6-phosphate (DG6P), and glucose. The rate of glucose phosphorylation can be directly calculated from the rate of change in DG6P, the average levels of DG and glucose, and a constant derived from direct comparison of the rate of changes in glucose and DG6P after decapitation. Experiments with large brain samples provided evidence for a 2% per min loss of DG6P and at least two compartments differing in their rates of glucose metabolism, one rapidly entered by DG with glucose phosphorylation almost double that of average brain and another more slowly entered with a much lower phosphorylation rate. The method is illustrated by changes in phosphorylation within 2 min after injection of a convulsant or an anesthetic and over a 48-min time course with and without anesthesia. The sensitivity of the analytical methods can be amplified as much as desired by enzymatic cycling. Consequently, the method is applicable to very small brain samples. Examples are given for regions with volumes of 5 x 10(-4) microliters, but studies with samples as small as single large cell bodies are feasible.
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Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.