SKIP negatively regulates insulin-induced GLUT4 translocation and membrane ruffle formation.

Skeletal muscle and kidney enriched inositol phosphatase (SKIP) is an inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatase that hydrolyzes phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate [PI(3,4,5)P3] to downregulate intracellular levels. In this study, we show that SKIP inhibits phosphoinositide 3-kinase signaling in insulin-stimulated CHO cells. Ectopic expression of SKIP did not inhibit insulin-induced PI(3,4,5)P3 generation but did rapidly decrease insulin-induced intracellular PI(3,4,5)P3 levels compared with those in control cells. Further, insulin-induced phosphorylation of some downstream targets such as Akt and p70 S6 kinase was markedly inhibited by the ectopic expression of SKIP, whereas phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase was not. In contrast, downregulation of intracellular SKIP levels by antisense oligonucleotides dramatically enhanced Akt (protein kinase B) phosphorylation in response to insulin, suggesting that endogenous SKIP downregulates insulin signaling. SKIP also markedly inhibited GLUT4 translocation and membrane ruffle formation. We conclude that SKIP preferentially regulates glucose transport and actin cytoskeletal rearrangement among a variety of PI(3,4,5)P3 downstream events.