Functional consequence of targeting protein kinase B/Akt to GLUT4 vesicles

We have investigated the role of protein kinase B (Akt) in the insulin-stimulated translocation of vesicles containing the insulin-responsive isoform of glucose transporter (GLUT4) to the plasma membrane of adipocytes. Previous reports have suggested that protein kinase B can bind to intracellular GLUT4 vesicles in an insulin-dependent manner, but the functional consequence of this translocation is not known. In this study we have artificially targeted constitutively active and kinase-inactive mutants of protein kinase B to intracellular GLUT4 vesicles by fusing them with the N-terminus of GLUT4 itself. We examined the effect of these mutants on the insulin-dependent translocation of the insulin-responsive amino peptidase IRAP (a bona fide GLUT4-vesicle-resident protein). A kinase-inactive protein kinase B targeted to GLUT4 vesicles was an extremely effective dominant-negative inhibitor of insulin-stimulated IRAP translocation to the plasma membrane. By contrast, a kinase-inactive protein kinase B expressed in the cytoplasm did not have an effect. The results suggest that protein kinase B has an important functional role at, or in the vicinity of, GLUT4 vesicles in the insulin-dependent translocation of those vesicles to the plasma membrane of adipocytes.