Contraction inhibits insulin-stimulated insulin receptor substrate-1/2-associated phosphoinositide 3-kinase activity, but not protein kinase B activation or glucose uptake, in rat muscle.

The initial stages of insulin-stimulated glucose uptake are thought to involve tyrosine phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrates (IRSs), which recruit and activate phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase), leading to the activation of protein kinase B (PKB) and other downstream effectors. In contrast, contraction stimulates glucose uptake via a PI 3-kinase-independent mechanism. The combined effects of insulin and contraction on glucose uptake are additive. However, it has been reported that contraction causes a decrease in insulin-stimulated IRS-1-associated PI 3-kinase activity. To investigate this paradox, we have examined the effects of contraction on insulin-stimulated glucose uptake and proximal insulin-signalling events in isolated rat epitrochlearis muscle. Stimulation by insulin or contraction produced a 3-fold increase in glucose uptake, with the effects of simultaneous treatment by insulin and contraction being additive. Wortmannin completely blocked the additive effect of insulin in contracting skeletal muscle, indicating that this is a PI 3-kinase-dependent effect. Insulin-stimulated recruitment of PI 3-kinase to IRS-1 was unaffected by contraction; however, insulin produced no discernible increase in PI 3-kinase activity in IRS-1 or IRS-2 immunocomplexes in contracting skeletal muscle. Consistent with this, contraction inhibited insulin-stimulated p70(S6K) activation. In contrast, insulin-stimulated activation of PKB was unaffected by contraction. Thus, in contracting skeletal muscle, insulin stimulates glucose uptake and activates PKB, but not p70(S6K), by a PI 3-kinase-dependent mechanism that is independent of changes in IRS-1- and IRS-2-associated PI 3-kinase activity.