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The current studies investigated the contribution of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) isoforms to insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) translocation. Experiments involving the microinjection of antibodies specific for the p110 catalytic subunit of class I PI3-kinases demonstrated an absolute requirement for this form of the enzyme in GLUT4 translocation. This finding was confirmed by the demonstration that the PI3-kinase antagonist wortmannin inhibits GLUT4 and insulin-responsive aminopeptidase translocation with a dose response identical to that required to inhibit another class I PI3-kinase-dependent event, activation of pp70 S6-kinase. Interestingly, wortmannin inhibited insulin-stimulated glucose uptake at much lower doses, suggesting the existence of a second, higher affinity target of the drug. Subsequent removal of wortmannin from the media shifted this dose-response curve to one resembling that for GLUT4 translocation and pp70 S6-kinase. This is consistent with the lower affinity target being p110, which is irreversibly inhibited by wortmannin. Wortmannin did not reduce glucose uptake in cells stably expressing Myr-Akt, which constitutively induced GLUT4 translocation to the plasma membrane; this demonstrates that wortmannin does not inhibit the transporters directly. In addition to elucidating a second wortmannin-sensitive pathway in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, these studies suggest that the presence of GLUT4 on the plasma membrane is not sufficient for activation of glucose uptake.

Insulin activates hexose transport via at least two mechanisms: a p21ras -dependent pathway, leading to an increase in the amount of cell surface GLUT1; and a metabolic, p21ras -independent pathway, leading to translocation of the insulin-responsive transporter GLUT4 to the cell surface. Following insulin stimulation, SHPTP2, a non-transmembrane protein-tyrosine phosphatase, associates with insulin receptor substrate 1 via its Src homology 2 (SH2) domains. Microinjection of a glutathione S-transferase fusion protein encoding the N- and C-terminal SH2 domains of SHPTP2 (GST-NC-SH2) or anti-SHPTP2 antibodies into NIH-3T3 fibroblasts overexpressing the insulin receptor blocks insulin-induced DNA synthesis. Microinjection of either GST-NC-SH2 or anti-SHPTP2 antibodies into 3T3-L1 adipocytes inhibited the insulin-stimulated increase in expression of GLUT1. In contrast, translocation of GLUT4 to the cell surface was unaffected by either GST-NC-SH2 or anti-SHPTP2 antibodies. These data confirm a role for SHPTP2 in insulin-stimulated mitogenesis and indicate that whereas SHPTP2 is necessary for insulin-stimulated expression of GLUT1, it is not required for activation of the metabolic pathway leading to GLUT4 translocation.

The proto-oncogene p21ras has been implicated as an essential intermediate in several actions of the hormone insulin. This study examines the role of p21ras in the signaling pathways by which insulin increases hexose transport in differentiated 3T3-L1 adipose cells, a model system for study of the metabolic effects of the hormone on a physiological target tissue. Introduction of constitutively activated p21ras(G12V) by microinjection into 3T3-L1 adipocytes stimulated the expression of the ubiquitous glucose transporter, GLUT1, in the absence of insulin. Moreover, introduction of dominant inhibitory forms of p21ras or neutralizing antibodies directed against p21ras blocked the insulin-induced increase in GLUT1 expression. In contrast, microinjection of activating or inhibitory forms of p21ras had no effect on translocation of the "insulin-responsive" glucose transporter, GLUT4, to the cell surface. These results indicate that p21ras mediates the insulin-induced increase in GLUT1 expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes but is not involved in the translocation of GLUT4 that leads to acute increases in glucose transport.

The metabolic and mitogenic actions of insulin have been proposed to be mediated by cellular serine/threonine kinases such as the ribosomal protein S6 kinases pp70-S6 (pp70-S6 kinase) and pp90rsk and the erk-encoded mitogen-activated protein kinases (pp42mapk and pp44mapk). Rapamycin completely blocked activation of pp70-S6 kinase by insulin in 3T3-L1 adipocytes, but did not inhibit insulin-stimulated glucose transport, translocation of GLUT4 to the cell surface, or activation of pp90rsk or pp44mapk by insulin. Concordant with the inhibition of kinase activity, rapamycin prevented the insulin-induced decrease in mobility of pp70-S6 kinase visualized by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, reflecting a reduction in the hormone-stimulated phosphorylation of the enzyme. The structurally related macrolide, FK506, had no effect on pp70-S6 kinase or hexose uptake. These data demonstrate that rapamycin blocks insulin activation of pp70-S6 kinase in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and that pp70-S6 kinase is not required in the signaling pathway leading to insulin-stimulated glucose transport.