Dual Regulation of Muscle Glycogen Synthase during Exercise by Activation and Compartmentalization

Glycogen synthase (GS) is considered the rate-limiting enzyme in glycogenesis but still today there is a lack of understanding on its regulation. We have previously shown phosphorylation-dependent GS intracellular redistribution at the start of glycogen re-synthesis in rabbit skeletal muscle (Prats, C., Cadefau, J. A., Cussó, R., Qvortrup, K., Nielsen, J. N., Wojtaszewki, J. F., Wojtaszewki, J. F., Hardie, D. G., Stewart, G., Hansen, B. F., and Ploug, T. (2005) J. Biol. Chem. 280, 23165–23172). In the present study we investigate the regulation of human muscle GS activity by glycogen, exercise, and insulin. Using immunocytochemistry we investigate the existence and relevance of GS intracellular compartmentalization during exercise and during glycogen re-synthesis. The results show that GS intrinsic activity is strongly dependent on glycogen levels and that such regulation involves associated dephosphorylation at sites 2+2a, 3a, and 3a + 3b. Furthermore, we report the existence of several glycogen metabolism regulatory mechanisms based on GS intracellular compartmentalization. After exhausting exercise, epinephrine-induced protein kinase A activation leads to GS site 1b phosphorylation targeting the enzyme to intramyofibrillar glycogen particles, which are preferentially used during muscle contraction. On the other hand, when phosphorylated at sites 2+2a, GS is preferentially associated with subsarcolemmal and intermyofibrillar glycogen particles. Finally, we verify the existence in human vastus lateralis muscle of the previously reported mechanism of glycogen metabolism regulation in rabbit tibialis anterior muscle. After overnight low muscle glycogen level and/or in response to exhausting exercise-induced glycogenolysis, GS is associated with spherical structures at the I-band of sarcomeres.The desire to understand metabolism and its regulation dates back several centuries, but it has exponentially increased during the last decades in an effort to treat or prevent type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).3 Defective muscle glycogen synthesis has been repeatedly reported in patients with T2DM (1–3). Several studies have shown impairments of insulin-induced glycogen synthase (GS) activation in skeletal muscle from T2DM patients and in healthy subjects at increased risk for T2DM, such as healthy obese and first-degree relatives of patients with T2DM (4–9).The first scientific studies on GS date from the 1960s, but still today there is a lack of understanding on its regulation. GS is the rate-limiting enzyme in glycogenesis and is classically used as an example of an allosterically and covalently regulated enzyme. It is well accepted that GS is complexly regulated by sequences of hierarchal phosphorylations (10) in at least nine sites and by its allosteric activator, glucose 6-phosphate (G6P) (11, 12). However, the exact effects of GS phosphorylation at different sites on its regulation are still not clear. GS phosphorylation sites are distributed between the NH₂- and the COOH-terminal domains. The NH₂ terminus domain contains two sites, 2 (Ser⁷) and 2a (Ser¹⁰), that are phosphorylated in a hierarchal mode. Phosphorylation of site 2 is needed as a recognition motif for casein kinase 1 to phosphorylate site 2a (13, 14). Several protein kinases have been reported to phosphorylate site 2 in vitro, among them PKA, CaMKII, PKC, AMPK, GPhK, and MAPKAPKII (15–17). At the COOH terminus of muscle GS, there are at least seven phosphorylation sites; sites 3a (Ser⁶⁴⁰), 3b (Ser⁶⁴⁴), 3c (Ser⁶⁴⁸), 4 (Ser⁶⁵²), 5 (Ser⁶⁵⁶), 1a (Ser⁶⁹⁷), and 1b (Ser⁷¹⁰). Sites 3, 4, and 5 are phosphorylated in a hierarchal mode. Casein kinase II phosphorylates site 5, establishing a recognition motif for GSK-3 to phosphorylate sequentially sites 4, 3c, 3b, and 3a (18–21). Dephosphorylation of sites 2 and 3 increase GS intrinsic activity much more than dephosphorylation of the remaining sites, which have little or no effect on the enzyme activity (22). The effect of GS phosphorylation at sites 1a and 1b remains elusive. G6P binding reverses covalent inactivation of GS by phosphorylation (11) and increases susceptibility of the enzyme to be activated by the action of protein phosphatases (23), mainly by glycogen-targeted protein phosphatase 1.Intracellular compartmentalization of GS has been reported in several studies. In isolated hepatocytes, incubation with glucose induces GS activation and intracellular translocation to the cell periphery (24). In contrast, in the absence of glucose, GS has been shown to be mainly located inside the nucleus of both cultured liver and muscle cells; however, following addition of glucose GS translocates to the cytosol (25). In a previous study, we reported a novel regulatory mechanism of skeletal muscle glycogen metabolism (26). We showed that severe glycogen depletion induced by muscle contraction leads to rearrangement of cytoskeleton actin filaments to form dynamic intracellular compartments. Both GS and phosphorylase associate with such compartments to start glycogen re-synthesis. Furthermore, we showed that GS phosphorylated at site 1b (P-GS1b) was located at the cross-striations, the I-band of sarcomeres, whereas when phosphorylated at sites 2+2a (P-GS2+2a), GS formed some clusters homogeneously distributed along muscle fibers. In the present study we investigate the existence and relevance of such regulatory mechanism in human muscle metabolism.     

Kinetic Mechanism of Allosteric Regulation of Muscle Glycogen Phosphorylase b by Adenosine 5"-Monophosphate

Kinetic analysis of the glycogen chain growth reaction catalyzed by glycogen phosphorylase b from rabbit skeletal muscle has been carried out over a wide range of AMP concentration under the saturation of the enzyme by glycogen. Applicability of some variants of the kinetic model involving the interaction of AMP- and glucose 1-phosphate-binding sites in the dimeric enzyme molecule is considered. A kinetic model of the enzymatic reaction describing adequately the activation of the enzyme by AMP and inhibition at sufficiently high concentrations of AMP is proposed.     

锌指蛋白对肌肉发育的调节

骨骼肌已经成为研究发育的很多基本原理的一个理想模型。对肌肉发育机制的研究加深了我们对细胞决定、细胞分化、形态发生以及生长和分化的拮抗作用等生命现象的认识。在骨骼肌的发育过程中 ,从中胚层的肌肉祖先细胞产生成肌细胞以及从成肌细胞分化成多核肌细胞的每一步骤都是由转录因子来调节的。锌指蛋白 (ｚｉｎｃｆｉｎｇｅｒｐｒｏｔｅｉｎ)是80年代中期发现的一类ＤＮＡ结合蛋白 ,在真核生物中 ,锌指蛋白可能是最大的一类ＤＮＡ结合蛋白 ,并且由锌指蛋白调控基因表达是发育和其他过程的一个非常普遍的现象。在最近的几年中 ,发现某些…     

Kinetics of Denaturation of Rabbit Skeletal Muscle Glycogen Phosphorylase b by Guanidine Hydrochloride

The kinetics of denaturation and aggregation of rabbit muscle glycogen phosphorylase b in the presence of guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl) have been studied. The curve of inactivation of phosphorylase b in time includes a region of the fast decline in the enzymatic activity,an intermediate plateau,and a part with subsequent decrease in the enzymatic activity. The fact that the shape of the inactivation curves is dependent on the enzyme concentration testifies to the dissociative mechanism of inactivation. The dissociation of phosphorylase b dimers into monomers in the presence of GuHCl is supported by sedimentation data. The rate of phosphorylase b aggregation in the presence of GuHCl rises as the denaturant concentration increases to 1.12 M; at higher concentration of GuHCl, suppression of aggregation occurs. At rather low concentration of the protein (0.25 mg/ml), the terminal phase of aggregation follows the kinetics of a monomolecular reaction (the reaction rate constant is equal to 0.082 min^–1;1 M GuHCl, 25°C). At higher concentration of phosphorylase b (0.75 mg/ml), aggregation proceeds as a trimolecular reaction.     

Reproducibility and Absolute Quantification of Muscle Glycogen in Patients with Glycogen Storage Disease by 13C NMR Spectroscopy at 7 Tesla

Carbon-13 magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹³C MRS) offers a noninvasive method to assess glycogen levels in skeletal muscle and to identify excess glycogen accumulation in patients with glycogen storage disease (GSD). Despite the clinical potential of the method, it is currently not widely used for diagnosis or for follow-up of treatment. While it is possible to perform acceptable ¹³C MRS at lower fields, the low natural abundance of ¹³C and the inherently low signal-to-noise ratio of ¹³C MRS makes it desirable to utilize the advantage of increased signal strength offered by ultra-high fields for more accurate measurements. Concomitant with this advantage, however, ultra-high fields present unique technical challenges that need to be addressed when studying glycogen. In particular, the question of measurement reproducibility needs to be answered so as to give investigators insight into meaningful inter-subject glycogen differences. We measured muscle glycogen levels in vivo in the calf muscle in three patients with McArdle disease (MD), one patient with phosphofructokinase deficiency (PFKD) and four healthy controls by performing ¹³C MRS at 7T. Absolute quantification of the MRS signal was achieved by using a reference phantom with known concentration of metabolites. Muscle glycogen concentration was increased in GSD patients (31.5±2.9 g/kg w. w.) compared with controls (12.4±2.2 g/kg w. w.). In three GSD patients glycogen was also determined biochemically in muscle homogenates from needle biopsies and showed a similar 2.5-fold increase in muscle glycogen concentration in GSD patients compared with controls. Repeated inter-subject glycogen measurements yield a coefficient of variability of 5.18%, while repeated phantom measurements yield a lower 3.2% system variability. We conclude that noninvasive ultra-high field ¹³C MRS provides a valuable, highly reproducible tool for quantitative assessment of glycogen levels in health and disease.     

Regulation of AMPA Receptor Trafficking and Function by Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3

Accumulating evidence suggests that glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) is a multifunctional kinase implicated in neuronal development, mood stabilization, and neurodegeneration. However, the synaptic actions of GSK-3 are largely unknown. In this study, we examined the impact of GSK-3 on AMPA receptor (AMPAR) channels, the major mediator of excitatory transmission, in cortical neurons. Application of GSK-3 inhibitors or knockdown of GSK-3 caused a significant reduction of the amplitude of miniature excitatory postsynaptic current (mEPSC), a readout of the unitary strength of synaptic AMPARs. Treatment with GSK-3 inhibitors also decreased surface and synaptic GluR1 clusters on dendrites and increased internalized GluR1 in cortical cultures. Rab5, the small GTPase controlling the transport from plasma membrane to early endosomes, was activated by GSK-3 inhibitors. Knockdown of Rab5 prevented GSK-3 inhibitors from regulating mEPSC amplitude. Guanyl nucleotide dissociation inhibitor (GDI), which regulates the cycle of Rab5 between membrane and cytosol, formed an increased complex with Rab5 after treatment with GSK-3 inhibitors. Blocking the function of GDI occluded the effect of GSK-3 inhibitors on mEPSC amplitude. In cells transfected with the non-phosphorylatable GDI mutant, GDI(S45A), GSK-3 inhibitors lost the capability to regulate GDI-Rab5 complex, mEPSC amplitude, and AMPAR surface expression. These results suggest that GSK-3, via altering the GDI-Rab5 complex, regulates Rab5-mediated endocytosis of AMPARs. It provides a potential mechanism underlying the role of GSK-3 in synaptic transmission and plasticity.     

肌肉生长抑制因子对肌细胞发育的调控研究

肌肉生长抑制因子（MSTN）是动物肌肉生长发育的一个重要的负调控主效基因。它的表达受其他肌肉发育的调控因子如MyoD,FoxO等的调控。MSTN原蛋白经蛋白酶修饰变成的活性蛋白存在于血液循环系统中,它可以结合到细胞膜表面受体,激活细胞内信号通路,与其他因子的协同作用对肌肉发育和脂肪生成产生不同生理效应。本文将对MSTN基因及其蛋白的结构特点,表达调控因子,细胞内信号传导,及其对组织发育的影响进行探讨。     

Muscle Glycogen Remodeling and Glycogen Phosphate Metabolism following Exhaustive Exercise of Wild Type and Laforin Knockout Mice

Glycogen, the repository of glucose in many cell types, contains small amounts of covalent phosphate, of uncertain function and poorly understood metabolism. Loss-of-function mutations in the laforin gene cause the fatal neurodegenerative disorder, Lafora disease, characterized by increased glycogen phosphorylation and the formation of abnormal deposits of glycogen-like material called Lafora bodies. It is generally accepted that the phosphate is removed by the laforin phosphatase. To study the dynamics of skeletal muscle glycogen phosphorylation in vivo under physiological conditions, mice were subjected to glycogen-depleting exercise and then monitored while they resynthesized glycogen. Depletion of glycogen by exercise was associated with a substantial reduction in total glycogen phosphate and the newly resynthesized glycogen was less branched and less phosphorylated. Branching returned to normal on a time frame of days, whereas phosphorylation remained suppressed over a longer period of time. We observed no change in markers of autophagy. Exercise of 3-month-old laforin knock-out mice caused a similar depletion of glycogen but no loss of glycogen phosphate. Furthermore, remodeling of glycogen to restore the basal branching pattern was delayed in the knock-out animals. From these results, we infer that 1) laforin is responsible for glycogen dephosphorylation during exercise and acts during the cytosolic degradation of glycogen, 2) excess glycogen phosphorylation in the absence of laforin delays the normal remodeling of the branching structure, and 3) the accumulation of glycogen phosphate is a relatively slow process involving multiple cycles of glycogen synthesis-degradation, consistent with the slow onset of the symptoms of Lafora disease.     

Striated Muscle Regulation of Isometric Tension by Multiple Equilibria

Cooperative activation of striated muscle by calcium is based on the movement of tropomyosin described by the steric blocking theory of muscle contraction. Presently, the Hill model stands alone in reproducing both myosin binding data and a sigmoidal-shaped curve characteristic of calcium activation (Hill TL (1983) Two elementary models for the regulation of skeletal muscle contraction by calcium. Biophys J 44: 383–396.). However, the free myosin is assumed to be fixed by the muscle lattice and the cooperative mechanism is based on calcium-dependent interactions between nearest neighbor tropomyosin subunits, which has yet to be validated. As a result, no comprehensive model has been shown capable of fitting actual tension data from striated muscle. We show how variable free myosin is a selective advantage for activating the muscle and describe a mechanism by which a conformational change in tropomyosin propagates free myosin given constant total myosin. This mechanism requires actin, tropomyosin, and filamentous myosin but is independent of troponin. Hence, it will work equally well with striated, smooth and non-muscle contractile systems. Results of simulations with and without data are consistent with a strand of tropomyosin composed of ∼20 subunits being moved by the concerted action of 3–5 myosin heads, which compares favorably with the predicted length of tropomyosin in the overlap region of thick and thin filaments. We demonstrate that our model fits both equilibrium myosin binding data and steady-state calcium-dependent tension data and show how both the steepness of the response and the sensitivity to calcium can be regulated by the actin-troponin interaction. The model simulates non-cooperative calcium binding both in the presence and absence of strong binding myosin as has been observed. Thus, a comprehensive model based on three well-described interactions with actin, namely, actin-troponin, actin-tropomyosin, and actin-myosin can explain the cooperative calcium activation of striated muscle.     

同源异型盒基因对血管平滑肌细胞的调控作用

同源异型盒基因是一类对生物体的生长、发育和分化从时间和空间上进行协调的调控基因。构成血管中膜的血管平滑肌细胞表型具有极大的可塑性。在一些病理性血管重构时,血管平滑肌细胞可发生表型调变,从分化型调变为去分化型,具备增殖和迁移能力。在此过程中,多种同源异型盒基因的表达发挥了重要的调控作用。现就同源异型盒基因与血管平滑肌细胞的表型调变、增殖和迁移的关系等方面的研究进展作一综述。     

肌糖原磷酸化酶a,b亚基的杂交

本文用标记在肌糖原磷酸化酶ａ（ＧＰＡ）亚基上的荧光探针ＩＡＥＤＡＮＳ与标记在肌糖原磷酸化酶ｂ（ＧＰＢ）亚基上的ＩＡＦ之间无辐射能量转移;高压力下亚基交换动力学和外源荧光探针荧光偏振等三种方法证实了肌糖原磷酸化酶ａ、ｂ的亚基可相互交换,形成磷酸化酶ａ、ｂ的杂交形式。     

Nucleoside Transport in Neurons. Regulation by Secretagogues and Effectors of Protein Kinases A and C

Abstract

In chromaffin cells, secretagogues and direct activators of protein kinase C and protein kinase A inhibited the nucleoside transport with a parallel decrease in the high affinity binding sites.     

运动后补充肉碱可提升骨骼肌糖原合成代谢

本研究旨在探讨单次口服肉碱是否有利于促进人体运动后骨骼肌糖原恢复。本研究为交叉实验设计,选取20名受试者,随机分为肉碱试验(实验组)和安慰剂试验(安慰剂组),两次实验间隔至少7 d。所有受试者接受单次60 min 70%VO_2max功率车测试,运动后立即给予高碳水化合物饮食补充和肉碱胶囊或安慰剂淀粉胶囊口服补充,同时观察运动后3 h恢复期内的生理反应。功率车运动后第0、第3小时从股外侧肌采集肌肉样本,同期间隔每30 min收集血液样本,每60 min收集10 min气体样本。研究发现,实验组肌糖原含量增加率显著增加,在血液生化值方面,两组的血糖浓度在各时间点均无显著差异,但实验组的胰岛素反应显著低于安慰剂组。同时在运动恢复期间,实验组呼吸交换率明显低于安慰剂组,这代表运动恢复期口服肉碱后,身体以脂肪为主要能量来源。研究表明,运动后立即补充肉碱能显著提升人体运动后肌糖原恢复,具备临床进一步推广应用的价值。     

Regulation of Cardiac Muscle Contractility

The heart's physiological performance, unlike that of skeletal muscle, is regulated primarily by variations in the contractile force developed by the individual myocardial fibers. In an attempt to identify the basis for the characteristic properties of myocardial contraction, the individual cardiac contractile proteins and their behavior in contractile models in vitro have been examined. The low shortening velocity of heart muscle appears to reflect the weak ATPase activity of cardiac myosin, but this enzymatic activity probably does not determine active state intensity. Quantification of the effects of Ca⁺⁺ upon cardiac actomyosin supports the view that myocardial contractility can be modified by changes in the amount of calcium released during excitation-contraction coupling. Exchange of intracellular K⁺ with Na⁺ derived from the extracellular space also could enhance myocardial contractility directly, as highly purified cardiac actomyosin is stimulated when K⁺ is replaced by an equimolar amount of Na⁺. On the other hand, cardiac glycosides and catecholamines, agents which greatly increase the contractility of the intact heart, were found to be without significant actions upon highly purified reconstituted cardiac actomyosin.     

Regulation of Oscillatory Contraction in Insect Flight Muscle by Troponin

Insect indirect flight muscle is activated by sinusoidal length change, which enables the muscle to work at high frequencies, and contracts isometrically in response to Ca²⁺. Indirect flight muscle has two TnC isoforms: F1 binding a single Ca²⁺ in the C-domain, and F2 binding Ca²⁺ in the N- and C-domains. Fibres substituted with F1 produce delayed force in response to a single rapid stretch, and those with F2 produce isometric force in response to Ca²⁺. We have studied the effect of TnC isoforms on oscillatory work. In native Lethocerus indicus fibres, oscillatory work was superimposed on a level of isometric force that depended on Ca²⁺ concentration. Maximum work was produced at pCa 6.1; at higher concentrations, work decreased as isometric force increased. In fibres substituted with F1 alone, work continued to rise as Ca²⁺ was increased up to pCa 4.7. Fibres substituted with various F1:F2 ratios produced maximal work at a ratio of 100:1 or 50:1; a higher proportion of F2 increased isometric force at the expense of oscillatory work. The F1:F2 ratio was 9.8:1 in native fibres, as measured by immunofluorescence, using isoform-specific antibodies. The small amount of F2 needed to restore work to levels obtained for the native fibre is likely to be due to the relative affinity of F1 and F2 for TnH, the Lethocerus homologue of TnI. Affinity of TnC isoforms for a TnI fragment of TnH was measured by isothermal titration calorimetry. The K_d was 1.01 μM for F1 binding and 22.7 nM for F2. The higher affinity of F2 can be attributed to two TnH binding sites on F2 and a single site on F1. Stretch may be sensed by an extended C-terminal domain of TnH, resulting in reversible dissociation of the inhibitory sequence from actin during the oscillatory cycle.     

Regulation of Vascular Smooth Muscle Tone by Adipose-Derived Contracting Factor

Obesity and arterial hypertension, important risk factors for atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease, are characterized by an increase in vascular tone. While obesity is known to augment vasoconstrictor prostanoid activity in endothelial cells, less is known about factors released from fat tissue surrounding arteries (perivascular adipose). Using lean controls and mice with either monogenic or diet-induced obesity, we set out to determine whether and through which pathways perivascular adipose affects vascular tone. We unexpectedly found that in the aorta of obese mice, perivascular adipose potentiates vascular contractility to serotonin and phenylephrine, indicating activity of a factor generated by perivascular adipose, which we designated “adipose-derived contracting factor” (ADCF). Inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX) fully prevented ADCF-mediated contractions, whereas COX-1 or COX-2-selective inhibition was only partially effective. By contrast, inhibition of superoxide anions, NO synthase, or endothelin receptors had no effect on ADCF activity. Perivascular adipose as a source of COX-derived ADCF was further confirmed by detecting increased thromboxane A₂ formation from perivascular adipose-replete aortae from obese mice. Taken together, this study identifies perivascular adipose as a novel regulator of arterial vasoconstriction through the release of COX-derived ADCF. Excessive ADCF activity in perivascular fat under obese conditions likely contributes to increased vascular tone by antagonizing vasodilation. ADCF may thus propagate obesity-dependent hypertension and the associated increased risk in coronary artery disease, potentially representing a novel therapeutic target.