Dissection of stress-activated glucose transport from insulin-induced glucose transport in mammalian cells using wortmannin and ML-9.

The signaling pathways responsible for the activation of glucose transport by insulin and by metabolic stress in mammalian cells were studied in Clone 9 cells and 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Exposure of both cell types to azide or insulin markedly increased their glucose uptake capacity (Vmax.) without affecting their apparent affinity for glucose (Km). The effects of azide and insulin were not additive. Wortmannin, a selective inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase, did not affect stimulation of transport by azide but inhibited insulin-induced glucose transport with a Ki of < 10 nM. ML-9, a putative mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitor, was equipotent in its inhibition of azide- and insulin-stimulated glucose transport. These findings suggest that multiple signalling cascades are involved in the stimulation of glucose transport in mammalian cells and that PI 3-kinase, an essential link in the pathway by which insulin stimulates glucose transport, is not necessary for the activation of glucose uptake by metabolic stress.