Antibodies against intrinsic adipocyte plasma membrane proteins activate D-glucose transport independent of interaction with insulin binding sites

Plasma membrane vesicles from rat adipocytes were treated with dimethylmaleic anhydride to remove extrinsic proteins and then used to immunize rabbits. Immunodiffusion experiments performed in agarose containing Triton X-100 (0.1%) revealed a precipitin reaction between anti-membrane serum and the detergent-solubilized proteins from either intact adipocyte plasma membranes or membranes extracted with dimethylmaleic anhydride. Anti-membrane serum caused cytolysis of intact adipocytes and this effect could be eliminated by incubating the serum at 56 degrees C for 30 min to inactivate complement. Heat-inactivated anti-membrane serum caused a significant increase in 14CO2 production from D-[1-14C]glucose in intact fat cells and the partially purified immunoglobulin fraction from anti-membrane serum markedly stimulated 3-O-methylglucose transport. Maximum activation of transport occurred at a 1:5 dilution and was not additive to that achieved by a maximal dose of insulin. Under these conditions, the anti-membrane immunoglobulin fraction had no effect on the binding of 125-i-insulin to fat cells at all concentrations of the hormone tested. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that activation of hexose transport in these studies results from the binding of immunoglobulin directly to the transport system, although an indirect action is also possible.     

Stereospecific D-glucose transport in mixed membrane and plasma membrane vesicles derived from cultured chick embryo fibroblasts

Mixed membrane vesicles prepared from cultured chick embryo fibroblasts possess a stereospecific D-glucose transport system, the properties of which are identical to those of the system in intact cells. Uptake of D-glucose proceeds without chemical alteration. The rate of stereospecific uptake of D-glucose into the mixed vesicles is 70% greater than that of the homogenate and uptake is directly proportional to membrane protein concentration. Stereospecific D-glucose uptake appears linear for 0.3 min, reaches a maximum at 2--5 min, and declines to zero by 5 h as L-glucose enters the vesicles. Uptake is osmotically sensitive and inhibited by cytochalasin B (Ki = 0.13 microM) and the structural analogues of D-glucose : D-mannose, 2-deoxy-D-glucose, 3-O-methyl-D-glucose, D-galactose and maltose, but not by sucrose of L-glucose. Uphill counterflow can be demonstrated and the apparent activation energy displays a transition from 47.7 kcal/mol below 11 degrees C to 18.1 kcal/mol above 11 degrees C. Stereospecific uptake rates of mixed vesicles prepared from Rous sarcoma virus-transformed cells are increased 30% over control values, and are increased 66% in vesicles derived from cells incubated for 24 h in glucose-free medium. Plasma membrane vesicles prepared from these cells by a dextran cushion centrifugation procedure display a 9-fold increase in the specific activity of stereospecific D-glucose uptake relative to the homogenate. Extraction of these membranes with dimethylmaleic anhydride (5 mg/mg protein) results in substantial or complete removal of major polypeptides of molecular weight 40 000, 55 000, 75 000, 78 000 and 200 000 with no loss in total uptake activity. Following extraction, major polypeptides of molecular weight 28 000, 33 000 and 68 000 remain in the membrane residue.     

Reconstitution of the glucose transport activity of rat adipocytes

Rat epididymal fat cell membrane proteins were extracted from adipocyte ghosts with octylglucoside and incorporated by detergent dialysis into unilamellar phosphatidylcholine vesicles approx. 200 nm in diameter. The rate of glucose transport into the vesicles under zero-trans conditions was substrate dependent, saturable and inhibited by phloretin and cytochalasin B. Their maximum specific transport activity was 35.6 mumol/min per mg protein, and their half saturation constant for glucose was 15 mM. Glucose transport into the reconstituted vesicles was inhibited by only those sugars which competitively inhibited glucose transport into intact adipocytes. A major protein component of the vesicles was a 100 kDa protein which we had previously found to react with the affinity label maltosyl isothiocyanate (Malchoff, D.M., Olansky, L., Pohl, S. and Langdon, R.G. (1981) Fed. Proc. 40, 1893). Removal of adipocyte ghost membrane extrinsic proteins with dimethylmaleic anhydride followed by extraction of the resulting membrane pellet with octylglucoside yielded a solution which contained two major proteins, of Mr 100 000 and 85 000, with very small quantities of lower Mr proteins. Vesicles into which these proteins were incorporated had average specific transport activities of 624 mumol/min per mg protein and half saturation constants of 22 mM. Our results strongly indicate that the native glucose transporter of the rat adipocyte, like that of the human erythrocyte (Shelton, R.L. and Langdon, R.G. (1983) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 733, 25-33), is a 100 kDa protein.     

Current status of the thiol redox model for the regulation of hexose transport by insulin.

Data obtained over the last two years pertinent to the thiol redox model for the modulation of hexose transport activity by insulin is summarized. The model proposes that activation of hexose transport in fat cells involves sulfhydryl oxidation to the disulfide form in a key protein component of the fat cell surface membrane. Theoretically, the rapid activation of transport by insulin may involve either the conversion of inactive membrane carriers to the active form as originally proposed, or the conversion of a low Vmax transport system to a high Vmax form. The present experiments showed that the percent inhibition of insulin-activated transport rates by submaximal levels of cytochalasin B was decreased compared to its effects on basal transport. Treatment of fat cells with N-ethylmaleimide inhibited cytochalasin B action but not transport activity. When insulin or the oxidant vitamin K5 was added to cells 5 minutes before the N-ethylmaleimide, the elevated transport activity was also resistant to the sulfhydryl reagent, but cytochalasin B retained its potent inhibitory effect on transport. The data demonstrate that unique properties characterize basal versus insulin-activated transport activity with respect to the sensitivity of cytochalasin B action to sulfhydryl blockade in isolated fat cells. The data are consistent with the concept that activation of transport activity reflects the conversion of a reduced (sulfhydryl) system characterized by a low Vmax to an oxidized (disulfide), high Vmax transport system.     

Modulation of glucose uptake in animal cells. Studies using plasma membrane vesicles isolated from nontransformed and simian virus 40-transformed mouse fibroblast cultures.

Plasma membrane vesicles isolated from nontransformed and Simian virus 40-transformed mouse fibroblast cultures catalyzed carrier-mediated D-glucose transport without detectable metabolic conversion to glucose 6-phosphate. Glucose transport activity was stereospecific, temperature-dependent, sensitive to inactivation by p-chloromercuriphenylsulfonate, and accompanied plasma membrane material during subcellular fractionation. D-Glucose efflux from vesicles was inhibited by phloretin, an inhibitor of glucose uptake in intact cells. Cytochalasin B, a potent inhibitor of glucose uptake when tested with the intact cells used for vesicle isolation did not inhibit glucose transport in vesicles despite the presence of high affinity cytochalasin binding sites in isolated membranes. The enhanced glucose uptake observed in intact cells after viral transformation was not expressed in vesicles: no significant differences in glucose transport specific activity could be detected in vesicle preparations from nontransformed and transformed mouse fibroblast cultures. These findings indicate that cellular components distinct from glucose carriers can mediate changes in glucose uptake in mouse fibroblast cultures in at least two cases: sensitivity to inhibition by cytochalasin B and the enhanced cellular sugar uptake observed after viral transformation.     

Biological properties of antibodies against rat adipocyte intrinsic membrane proteins. Dependence on multivalency for insulin-like activity.

Antisera from rabbits injected with rat adipocyte plasma membranes or intrinsic proteins from such membranes, obtained by a dimethylmaleic anhydride extraction step, mimicked the action of insulin on both glucose transport and lipolysis in intact adipocytes. Biological activity in both types of antisera was mediated by immunoglobulin binding to one or more intrinsic proteins of the adipocyte plasma membrane since fat cells were unresponsive to all antisera absorbed with dimethylmaleic anhydride-extracted membranes. Acid treatment of immunoprecipitates released antibodies which activated glucose uptake and reacted with solubilized adipocyte membranes on immunodiffusion plates. The biologically active immunoglobulin preparations failed to form immunoprecipitin lines when tested against membranes from brain, liver, lung, muscle, kidney, and spleen. Insulin-sensitive glucose uptake in rat soleus muscle did not respond to the antisera. The antibodies activated hexose uptake into fat cells and reacted with solubilized adipocyte membranes on immunodiffusion plates when rat or mouse adipocytes were studied, but not when monkey fat cells were used. The anti-membrane antibody preparations readily activated hexose uptake in trypsinized fat cells which had lost the capacity to bind or respond to insulin. These data are consistent with the concept previously proposed (Pillion, D.J., and Czech, M.P. (1978) J. Biol. Chem. 253, 3761-3764) that the anti-membrane immunoglobulins do not interact with the insulin binding site of the insulin receptor. Monovalent Fab fragments of the biologically active antisera, prepared by papain digestion of the native anti-membrane immunoglobulins, were ineffective in enhancing glucose uptake in adipocytes. However, biological activity of the anti-membrane Fab fragments was restored by the addition of goat anti-rabbit Fab antisera to cells treated with the Fab fraction. Anti-rabbit Fab antisera alone or in combination with Fab fragments prepared from control rabbit sera exhibited no biological activity. These results demonstrate that the ability of anti-membrane antisera to mimic the biological activity of insulin on isolated fat cells is critically dependent on immunoglobulin binding to one or more intrinsic plasma membrane proteins and the multivalent nature of immunoglobulin structure.     

Reconstitution of the glucose transporter from bovine heart

Reconstitution of the glucose transporter from heart should be useful as an assay in its purification and in the study of its regulation. We have prepared plasma membranes from bovine heart which display D-glucose reversible binding of cytochalasin B (33 pmol sites/mg protein; Kd = 0.2 muM). The membrane proteins were reconstituted into liposomes by the freeze-thaw procedure. Reconstituted liposomes showed D-glucose transport activity which was stereospecific, saturable and inhibited by cytochalasin B, phloretin, and mercuric chloride. Compared to membrane proteins reconstituted directly, proteins obtained by dispersal of the membranes with low concentrations of cholate or by cholate solubilization showed 1.2- or 2.3-fold higher specific activities for reconstituted transport, respectively. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by electrophoretic protein transfer and labeling with antisera prepared against the human erythrocyte transporter identified a single band of about 45 kDa in membranes from both dog and bovine hearts, a size similar to that reported for a number of other glucose transporters in various animals and tissues.     

Sodium-bicarbonate cotransport occurs in rat kidney cortical membranes but not in rat small intestinal basolateral membranes.

Basolateral membrane vesicles were isolated from rat kidney cortex and small intestinal enterocytes. Both membrane preparations show ATP-dependent calcium uptake and cytochalasin B-sensitive D-glucose transport. In renal membranes, sodium influx is stimulated by bicarbonate; bicarbonate-dependent sodium flux is membrane-potential-dependent and inhibited by 4,4'-di-isothiocyanato-2, 2'-stilbenedisulphanic acid ('DIDS'). Small intestinal basolateral membranes do not show bicarbonate-dependent sodium fluxes.     

Identification of the D-glucose-inhibitable cytochalasin B binding site as the glucose transporter in rat diaphragm plasma and microsomal membranes

[3H]Cytochalasin B binding and its competitive inhibition by D-glucose have been used to identify, the glucose transporter in plasma and microsomal membranes prepared from intact rat diaphragm. Scatchard plot analysis of [3H]cytochalasin B binding yields a binding site with a dissociation constant of roughly 110 nM. Since the inhibition constant of cytochalasin B for D-glucose uptake by diaphragm plasma membranes is similar to this value, this site is identified as the glucose transporter. Plasma membranes prepared from diaphragms bind approx. 17 pmol of cytochalasin B/mg of membrane protein to the D-glucose-inhibitable site. If 280 nM (40000 microunits/ml) insulin is present during incubation, cytochalasin B binding is increased roughly 2-fold without alteration in the dissociation constant of this site. In addition, membranes in the microsomal fraction contain 21 pmol of D-glucose-inhibitable cytochalasin B binding sites/mg of membrane protein. In the presence of insulin during incubation the number of these sites in the microsomal fraction is decreased to 9 pmol/mg of membrane protein. These results suggest that rat diaphragm contain glucose transporters with characteristics identical to those observed for the rat adipose cell glucose transporter. In addition, insulin stimulates glucose transport in rat diaphragm through a translocation of functionally identical glucose transporters from an intracellular membrane pool to the plasma membrane without an alteration in the characteristics of these sites.     

A simple and efficient method for reconstitution of amino acid and glucose transport systems from Ehrlich ascites cells

Solubilized Ehrlich cell plasma membrane proteins were incorporated into lipid vesicles in the presence of added phospholipid, using Sephadex G-50 chromatography combined with a freeze-thaw step. Liposomes formed in K+ exhibited high levels of Na+-dependent, alpha-aminoisobutyric acid uptake which was electrogenic and inhibited by other amino acids. The transport activity reconstituted was similar to that observed in native plasma membrane vesicles. In addition to transport by system A, leucine exchange activity (system L), Na+-dependent serine exchange activity (system ASC), and stereospecific glucose transport activity were also reconstituted. The latter was inhibited by D-glucose, D-galactose, cytochalasin B, and mercuric chloride. The medium used for reconstitution was critical for the recovery of Na+-dependent amino acid transport. The use of Na+ in the reconstitution procedure led to formation of liposomes which displayed little Na+-dependent and gradient-stimulated amino acid uptake. In contrast, all transport activities studied were efficiently reconstituted in K+ medium.     

Potential mechanism of insulin action on glucose transport in the isolated rat diaphragm. Apparent translocation of intracellular transport units to the plasma membrane

[3H]Cytochalasin B binding and its competitive inhibition by D-glucose have been used to quantitate the number of functional glucose transport units in plasma and microsomal membranes prepared from intact rat diaphragm. In a series of three experiments, plasma membranes prepared from diaphragms which have not been incubated with insulin bind approximately 16 pmol of cytochalasin B/mg of membrane protein to the D-glucose-inhibitable binding site. If 280 nM (40,000 microunits/ml) insulin is present during the incubation, cytochalasin B binding to the plasma membranes is increased approximately 2-fold without alteration in the dissociation constant of this site. Membranes in the microsomal fraction prepared from diaphragms which have been incubated for 30 min in the absence of insulin contain 21 pmol of D-glucose-inhibitable cytochalasin B binding sites/mg of membrane protein. However, in the presence of insulin during the incubation period, the number of these sites in the microsomal fraction is decreased to 12 pmol/mg of membrane protein. These results suggest that insulin stimulates glucose transport in the isolated rat diaphragm primarily through a translocation of functional glucose transport units from an intracellular membrane pool to the plasma membrane. These results are similar to the results observed in rat adipose cells (Cushman, S. W., and Wardzala, L. J. (1980) J. Biol. Chem. 255, 4758-4762) and suggest that this mechanism of insulin-stimulated glucose transport activity may be general to other cell types.     

The glucose transport system of muscle plasma membranes: characterization by means of [3H]cytochalasin B binding

A membrane-rich preparation was isolated from adult rat skeletal muscle in low salt media and further fractionated in sucrose gradients. Fraction F2, with a relative density of 1.092-1.119, consisted of sealed membrane vesicles which were enriched in plasma membrane markers. These vesicles were capable of stereospecific D-glucose uptake which was sensitive to cytochalasin B (CB). The membranes were also enriched in high affinity [3H]CB binding activity (Kd of 0.28 microM). [3H]CB binding to the glucose carrier of these plasma membranes, estimated as the fraction of binding protectable by D-glucose, ranged between 2.5 and 7.4 pmol/mg protein in several membrane preparations. The amount of [3H]CB binding to muscle membranes from newborn and adult rats was not markedly different. Trypsin, at low concentrations, altered the molecular weight of several membrane components, without affecting [3H]CB binding. Higher concentrations of trypsin abolished [3H]CB binding. Both 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (0.1 mM) and N-ethylmaleimide (15 mM) inhibited [3H]CB binding; inhibition by these reagents was prevented by inclusion of micromolar concentrations of CB in the reaction mixture. Several procedures that extracted specific proteins enriched the D-glucose-sensitive [3H]CB binding to the protein-depleted membranes. Antibody raised against the glucose carrier of human red cell membranes cross-reacted with a polypeptide of Mr about 45K of muscle membranes which might represent the glucose carrier.     

Translocation of small preformed vesicles is responsible for the insulin activation of glucose transport in adipose cells. Evidence from the in vitro reconstitution assay

Insulin stimulates translocation of the glucose transporter isoform 4 (Glut4) from an intracellular storage compartment to the plasma membrane in fat and skeletal muscle cells. At present, the nature of the Glut4 storage compartment is unclear. According to one model, this compartment represents a population of preformed small vesicles that fuse with the plasma membrane in response to insulin stimulation. Alternatively, Glut4 may be retained in large donor membranes, and insulin stimulates the formation of transport vesicles that deliver Glut4 to the cell surface. Finally, insulin can induce plasma membrane fusion of the preformed vesicles and, also, stimulate the formation of new vesicles. In extracts of fat and skeletal muscle cells, Glut4 is predominantly found in small insulin-sensitive 60-70 S membrane vesicles that may or may not artificially derive from large donor membranes during cell homogenization. Here, we use a cell-free reconstitution assay to demonstrate that small Glut4-containing vesicles are formed from large rapidly sedimenting donor membranes in a cytosol-, ATP-, time-, and temperature-dependent fashion and, therefore, do not represent an artifact of homogenization. Thus, small insulin-responsive vesicles represent the major form of Glut4 storage in the living adipose cell. Fusion of these vesicles with the plasma membrane may be largely responsible for the primary effect of insulin on glucose transport in fat tissue. In addition, our results suggest that insulin may also stimulate the formation of Glut4 vesicles and accelerate Glut4 recycling to the plasma membrane.     

Glucose transport by uterine plasma membranes

Uterine plasma membrane preparations were obtained by centrifugation on discontinuous sucrose gradients. The specific activity of the plasma membrane marker 5'-nucleotidase was increased 10-fold while the specific activity of glucose-6-phosphatase was increased 3-fold. Electron microscopy showed mainly closed vesicles having diameters mainly in the range of 0.1 to 0.4 micron and an absence of other recognizable organelles such as mitochondria. D-Glucose transport was inhibited by sulfhydryl reagents, phloretin, and cytochalasin B. Uptake was prevented at high osmotic pressures. The Km of glucose transport was 12.2 +/- 1.1 mM. Studies of the inhibition of [3H]cytochalasin B binding by D-glucose indicated that the value of the Kd of the cytochalasin B-transporter complex was larger than 1 microM. These data demonstrate the potential usefulness of these preparations in the study of glucose transport in rat uterus and its control by steroid hormones.     

Specific D-glucose transport in sarcolemma vesicles.

The sarcolemmal fraction prepared from rat skeletal muscle consists of osmotically active vesicles that accumulate D-glucose in preference to L-glucose, apparently by facilitated diffusion into intravesicular space. Stereospecific D-glucose uptake by these vesicles is a saturable rpocess, inhibited by phloridzin, by cytochalasin B, and by certain sugars, and enhanced by counterflow. An additional leak pathway permits entry of both D- and L-glucose into the vesicles. Stereospecific D-glucose transport by sarcolemmal vesicles is enhanced to a small extent by insulin, provided the hormone is administered prior to cell disruption. In membranes prepared from insulin-pretreated muscle, Ca2+ produces a small further enhancement. Local anesthetics preferentially inhibit stereospecific D-glucose transport. Apparent uptake of both D- and L-glucose is greater when vesicles are suspended in salt solutions rather than sucrose, an effect attributed to increased functional vesicular volume.     

Biochemical characterization and subcellular distribution of the glucose transporter from rat brain microvessels

This study describes the biochemical characterization and subcellular distribution of glucose transporters from isolated rat brain cortical microvessels. The D-glucose inhibitable [3H]cytochalasin B binding assay was used to quantitate glucose transporter binding sites in plasma membranes, high-density microsomes and low-density microsomes prepared from basal and insulin-stimulated cells. Incubation with insulin for 30 min increased the number of glucose transporters in the high-density microsomes by around 33% but had no effect on the number of glucose transporters in the plasma membrane or low-density microsomes. Prolonged incubation with insulin (2 h), however, resulted in a small but significant redistribution of glucose transporters to the low-density microsomes. Preincubation of cells with cycloheximide blocked this insulin-induced increase in glucose transporter number, suggesting that this effect of insulin was due to the synthesis of new glucose transport proteins. Specific labeling of glucose transporters was achieved by photoincorporation of [3H]cytochalasin B. Labeled membranes from all fractions contained a single D-glucose inhibitable peak, migrating with a molecular size of 55 kDa on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Isoelectric focusing of the 55 kDa protein revealed one major peak of D-glucose inhibitable radioactivity focusing at pH 6.0 in all fractions.     

Resistance of the intact and reconstituted adipocyte hexose transport system to irreversible inhibition by sulfhydryl and amino reagents

Sensitivity of the adipocyte D-glucose transport system in intact plasma membranes or following solubilization and reconstitution into phospholipid vesicles to several protein-modifying reagents was investigated. When intact plasma membranes were incubated with N-ethylmaleimide (20 mM) or fluorodinitrobenzene (4 mM), D-glucose transport activity was virtually abolished. However, washing the membranes free of unreacted reagents restored transport activity, indicating that covalent interaction with the membranes did not mediate the transport inhibition. Reaction of [³H] N-ethylmaleimide with plasma membranes under similar conditions resulted in extensive labeling of all protein fractions resolved on dodecyl sulfate gels. Similarly, addition of N-ethyl-maleimide to cholate-solubilized membrane protein had no effect on transport activity in artifical phospholipid vesicles reconstituted under conditions where the membrane protein was free of unreacted N-ethylmaleimide. Transport activity in plasma membranes was also inhibited by both reduced and oxidized dithiothreitol or glutathione (15 mM) in a readily reversible manner, consistent with a noncovalent mode of inhibition. Thus, the insulin-responsive adipocyte D-glucose transport system differs from the red cell hexose transport system in its remarkable insensitivity to modulation by covalent blockade of sulfhydryal or amino groups by the reagents studied.     

Differences in neutral amino acid and glucose transport between brush border and basolateral plasma membrane of intestinal epithelial cells.

A comparison of L-valine and D-glucose transport was carried out with vesicles of plasma membrane isolated either from the luminal (brush border) or from the contra-luminal (basolateral) region of small intestinal epithelial cells. The existence of transport systems for both non-electrolytes was demonstrated by stereospecificity and saturability of uptake, as well as tracer coupling. Transport of L-valine and D-glucose differs markedly in the two types of plasma membrane with respect to stimulation by Na+. The presence of Na+ stimulated initial L-valine and D-glucose uptake in brush border, but not in basolateral membrane. Moreover, an electro-chemical Na+ gradient, oriented with the lower potential on the inside, supported accumulation of the non-electrolytes above medium concentration only in the brush border membrane. L-Valine and D-glucose transport also were saturated at lower concentrations in brush border (10-20 mM) than in basolateral plasma membranes (30-50 mM). A third difference between the two membranes was found in the effectiveness of known inhibitors of D-glucose transport. In brush border membranes phlorizin was more potent than phloretin and 2', 3', 4'-trihydroxy-4-methoxy chalcone and cytochalasin B did not inhibit at all. In contrast, with the basolateral plasma membranes the order of potency was changed to phloretin = 2',3',4'-trihydroxy-4-methoxy chalcone greater than cytochalasin B greater than phlorizin. These results indicate the presence of different types of transport systems for monosaccharides and neutral amino acids in the luminal and contra-luminal region of the plasma membrane. Active transepithelial transport can be explained on the basis of the different properties of the non-electrolyte transport systems in the two cellular regions and an electro-chemical Na+ gradient that is dependent on cellular metabolism.     

Effect of glucocorticoids on hexose transport in rat adipocytes. Evidence for decreased transporters in the plasma membrane

Glucocorticoids are known to rapidly inhibit glucose transport when added to isolated rat adipocytes. To determine whether this inhibition of transport persists following isolation of the plasma membranes, adipocytes were incubated in the absence or presence of a maximally inhibitory concentration of dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid, and plasma membrane vesicles were prepared. D-Glucose uptake into vesicles from steroid-treated cells was inhibited by an average of 40%. The ability of dexamethasone to inhibit transport depended upon pretreatment of cells with hormone prior to membrane isolation. Furthermore, the decreased rate of transport was prevented by the simultaneous addition to the cell of actinomycin D or cycloheximide with dexamethasone, indicating a requirement for RNA and protein synthesis. The effect of dexamethasone on glucose transport was further investigated using our recently developed cytochalasin B affinity-labeling protocol to identify the transporter on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. A peak of radioactivity having Mr = 54,000 was identified which exhibited the properties expected for the glucose transporter, in that label incorporation was prevented by D-glucose and unlabeled cytochalasin B, but not by D-sorbitol or unlabeled cytochalasins A, D, or E. Dexamethasone was found to cause a significant (average 33%) decrease in the amount of labeled transporter in the plasma membrane which was prevented by the simultaneous addition of actinomycin D with dexamethasone to the cells. A similar percentage decrease was not found in a microsomal membrane fraction nor in a total cellular membrane fraction. These results suggest that glucocorticoids may decrease glucose transport in rat adipocytes by selectively decreasing the number of transporters in the plasma membrane.     

Cytochalasin B binding proteins in human erythrocyte membranes. Modulation of glucose sensitivity by site interaction and partial solubilization of binding activities

We have previously described three different cytochalasin B binding sites in human erythrocyte membranes, a D-glucose-sensitive site (Site I), a cytochalasin E-sensitive site (Site II), and a site (Site III) insensitive to both D-glucose and cytochalasin E. Ligand bindings to each of these sites were considered to be independent (Jung, C., and Rampal, A. (1977) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 5456-5463). However, we have obtained subsequently the following evidence which indicated that an interaction occurs between Sites II and III, and this modulates sensitivity of Site III to the sugar. The displacement of cytochalasin E greatly exceeds the sum of their independent displacements. This ghosts extracted with EDTA or 2,3-dimethylmaleic anhydride at low ionic strength lack Site II activity but retain Site I and III activities, and both of these activities are displaceable by D-glucose alone. This indicated that the removal of Site II from the membrane confers glucose sensitivity to Site III. These observations are consistent with a model that Sites II and III in the membrane exist in a close association through which unliganded Site II maintains the glucose insensitivity of Site III, and once site II is liganded or removed by extraction this association is disrupted and Site III becomes glucose-sensitive. The ghosts extracted with Triton X-100 retain a cytochalasin B binding activity similar to that of site II (Kd = 1.8 X 10(-7) M, cytochalasin E-sensitive, glucose-insensitive), whereas a binding activity similar to that of Site I (Kd = 4 X 10(-7) M, cytochalasin E-insensitive, glucose-sensitive) is recovered in the Triton extract. A cytochalasin B binding activity similar to that of Site II is solubilized by EDTA at low ionic strength.