Glucose transport and GLUT4 protein distribution in skeletal muscle of GLUT4 transgenic mice Available to Purchase

The aim of the present investigation was to determine whether the subcellular distribution and insulin-stimulated translocation of the GLUT4 isoform of the glucose transporter are affected when GLUT4 is overexpressed in mouse skeletal muscle, and if the overexpression of GLUT4 alters maximal insulin-stimulated glucose transport and metabolism. Rates of glucose transport and metabolism were assessed by hind-limb perfusion in GLUT4 transgenic (TG) mice and non-transgenic (NTG) controls. Glucose-transport activity was determined under basal (no insulin), submaximal (0.2 m-unit/ml) and maximal (10 m-units/ ml) insulin conditions using a perfusate containing 8 mM 3-O-methyl-D-glucose. Glucose metabolism was quantified by perfusing the hind limbs for 25 min with a perfusate containing 8 mM glucose and 10 m-units/ml insulin. Under basal conditions, there was no difference in muscle glucose transport between TG (1.10±0.10 μmol/h per g; mean±S.E.M.) and NTG (0.93±0.16 μmol/h per g) mice. However, TG mice displayed significantly greater glucose-transport activity during submaximal (4.42±0.49 compared with 2.69±0.33 μmol/h per g) and maximal (11.68±1.13 compared with 7.53±0.80 μmol/h per g) insulin stimulation. Nevertheless, overexpression of the GLUT4 protein did not alter maximal rates of glucose metabolism. Membrane purification revealed that, under basal conditions, plasma-membrane (~ 12-fold) and intracellular-membrane (~ 4-fold) GLUT4 protein concentrations were greater in TG than NTG mice. Submaximal insulin stimulation did not increase plasma-membrane GLUT4 protein concentration whereas maximal insulin stimulation increased this protein in both NTG (4.1-fold) and TG (2.6-fold) mice. These results suggest that the increase in insulin-stimulated glucose transport following overexpression of the GLUT4 protein is limited by factors other than the plasma-membrane GLUT4 protein concentration. Furthermore, GLUT4 overexpression is not coupled to glucose-metabolic capacity.