A potential new role for muscle in blood glucose homeostasis

J Biol Chem. 2004 Jun 18;279(25):26215-9. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M402036200. Epub 2004 Apr 14.

Abstract

The breakdown of tissue glycogen into glucose is critical for blood glucose homeostasis between meals. In the final steps of glycogenolysis, intracellular glucose 6-phosphate (Glc-6-P) is transported into the endoplasmic reticulum where it is hydrolyzed to glucose by glucose-6-phosphatase (Glc-6-Pase). Although the majority of body glycogen is stored in the muscle, the current dogma holds that Glc-6-Pase (now named Glc-6-Pase-alpha) is expressed only in the liver, kidney, and intestine, implying that muscle glycogen cannot contribute to interprandial blood glucose homeostasis. Recently we reported a second Glc-6-P hydrolase, Glc-6-Pase-beta. Glc-6-Pase-beta shares kinetic and structural similarities to Glc-6-Pase-alpha and couples with the Glc-6-P transporter to form an active Glc-6-Pase complex (Shieh, J.-J., Pan, C.-J., Mansfield, B. C., and Chou, J. Y. (2003) J. Biol. Chem. 278, 47098-47103). Here we demonstrate that muscle expresses both Glc-6-Pase-beta and Glc-6-P transporter and that they can couple to form an active Glc-6-Pase complex. Our data suggest that muscle may have a previously unrecognized role in interprandial glucose homeostasis.

MeSH terms

  • Adenoviridae / genetics
  • Animals
  • Blood Glucose / physiology*
  • Blotting, Northern
  • Blotting, Western
  • COS Cells
  • DNA, Complementary / metabolism
  • Glucose / metabolism
  • Glucose-6-Phosphatase / biosynthesis*
  • Glucose-6-Phosphatase / chemistry
  • Glucose-6-Phosphate / metabolism
  • Glycogen / metabolism
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Hydrolysis
  • Kinetics
  • Liver / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Muscle, Skeletal / metabolism
  • Muscles / enzymology*
  • Muscles / metabolism
  • Muscles / physiology*
  • Protein Binding
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Blood Glucose
  • DNA, Complementary
  • Glucose-6-Phosphate
  • Glycogen
  • Glucose-6-Phosphatase
  • Glucose