CDK5-dependent phosphorylation of the Rho family GTPase TC10(alpha) regulates insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation.

Insulin stimulation results in the activation of cyclin-dependent kinase-5 (CDK5) in lipid raft domains via a Fyn-dependent phosphorylation on tyrosine residue 15. In turn, activated CDK5 phosphorylates the Rho family GTP-binding protein TC10alpha on threonine 197 that is sensitive to the CDK5 inhibitor olomoucine and blocked by small interfering RNA-mediated knockdown of CDK5. The phosphorylation deficient mutant T197A-TC10alpha was not phosphorylated and excluded from the lipid raft domain, whereas the phosphorylation mimetic mutant (T197D-TC10alpha) was lipid raft localized. Insulin resulted in the GTP loading of T197D-TC10alpha but not T197A-TC10alpha and in parallel, T197D-TC10alpha but not T197A-TC10alpha depolymerized cortical actin and inhibited insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation. These data demonstrate that CDK5-dependent phosphorylation maintains TC10alpha in lipid raft compartments thereby disrupting cortical actin, whereas subsequent dephosphorylation of TC10alpha through inactivation of CDK5 allows for the re-assembly of F-actin. Because cortical actin reorganization is required for insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation, these data are consistent with a CDK5-dependent TC10alpha cycling between lipid raft and non-lipid raft compartments.