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Sequence Determinants of GLUT1-mediated Accelerated-exchange Transport: Analysis by Homology-Scanning MutagenesisThe class 1 equilibrative glucose transporters GLUT1 and GLUT4 are structurally similar but catalyze distinct modes of transport. GLUT1 exhibits trans-acceleration, in which the presence of intracellular sugar stimulates the rate of unidirectional sugar uptake. GLUT4-mediated uptake is unaffected by intracellular sugar. Using homology-scanning mutagenesis in which domains of GLUT1 are substituted with equivalent domains from GLUT4 and vice versa, we show that GLUT1 transmembrane domain 6 is both necessary and sufficient for trans-acceleration. This region is not directly involved in GLUT1 binding of substrate or inhibitors. Rather, transmembrane domain 6 is part of two putative scaffold domains, which coordinate membrane-spanning amphipathic helices that form the sugar translocation pore. We propose that GLUT1 transmembrane domain 6 restrains import when intracellular sugar is absent by slowing transport-associated conformational changes.
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Atg6 is required for multiple vesicle trafficking pathways and hematopoiesis in DrosophilaAtg6 (beclin 1 in mammals) is a core component of the Vps34 complex that is required for autophagy. Beclin 1 (Becn1) functions as a tumor suppressor, and Becn1(+/-) tumors in mice possess elevated cell stress and p62 levels, altered NF-kappaB signaling and genome instability. The tumor suppressor function of Becn1 has been attributed to its role in autophagy, and the potential functions of Atg6/Becn1 in other vesicle trafficking pathways for tumor development have not been considered. Here, we generate Atg6 mutant Drosophila and demonstrate that Atg6 is essential for autophagy, endocytosis and protein secretion. By contrast, the core autophagy gene Atg1 is required for autophagy and protein secretion, but it is not required for endocytosis. Unlike null mutants of other core autophagy genes, all Atg6 mutant animals possess blood cell masses. Atg6 mutants have enlarged lymph glands (the hematopoietic organ in Drosophila), possess elevated blood cell numbers, and the formation of melanotic blood cell masses in these mutants is not suppressed by mutations in either p62 or NFkappaB genes. Thus, like mammals, altered Atg6 function in flies causes hematopoietic abnormalities and lethality, and our data indicate that this is due to defects in multiple membrane trafficking processes.
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Insulin action on GLUT4 traffic visualized in single 3T3-l1 adipocytes by using ultra-fast microscopyA novel imaging technology, high-speed microscopy, has been used to visualize the process of GLUT4 translocation in response to insulin in single 3T3-L1 adipocytes. A key advantage of this technology is that it requires extremely low light exposure times, allowing the quasi-continuous capture of information over 20-30 min without photobleaching or photodamage. The half-time for the accumulation of GLUT4-eGFP (enhanced green fluorescent protein) at the plasma membrane in a single cell was found to be of 5-7 min at 37 degrees C. This half-time is substantially longer than that of exocytic vesicle fusion in neuroendocrine cells, suggesting that additional regulatory mechanisms are involved in the stimulation of GLUT4 translocation by insulin. Analysis of four-dimensional images (3-D over time) revealed that, in response to insulin, GLUT4-eGFP-enriched vesicles rapidly travel from the juxtanuclear region to the plasma membrane. In nontransfected adipocytes, impairment of microtubule and actin filament function inhibited insulin-stimulated glucose transport by 70 and 50%, respectively. When both filament systems were impaired insulin-stimulated glucose transport was completely inhibited. Taken together, the data suggest that the regulation of long-range motility of GLUT4-containing vesicles through the interaction with microtubule- and actin-based cytoskeletal networks plays an important role in the overall effect of insulin on GLUT4 translocation.
