Abstract:
The activation of the protein kinase C (PKC) family of serine/threonine kinases contributes to the modulation of insulin signaling and the PKC-dependent phosphorylation of IRS-1 has been implicated in the development of insulin resistance. Here we demonstrate Ser-357 of rat IRS-1 as a novel PKC-delta-dependent phosphorylation site in skeletal muscle cells upon stimulation with insulin and phorbol ester using phospho-Ser-357 antibodies and active and kinase dead mutant of PKC-delta. Phosphorylation of this site was simulated using IRS-1 Glu357 and shown to reduce insulin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1, to decrease activation of Akt and subsequently to diminish phosphorylation of GSK-3. When the phosphorylation was prevented by mutation of Ser-357 to alanine, these effects of insulin were enhanced. When the adjacent Ser-358, present in mouse and rat IRS-1, was mutated to alanine, which is homologous to the human sequence, the insulin-induced phosphorylation of GSK-3 or tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1 was not increased. Moreover, both, active PKC-delta and phosphorylation of Ser-357 were shown to be necessary for the attenuation of insulinstimulated Akt phosphorylation. The phosphorylation of Ser-357 could lead to increased association of PKC-delta to IRS-1 upon insulin stimulation, which was demonstrated with IRS-1 Glu357. Together, these data suggest that phosphorylation of Ser-357 mediates at least in part the adverse effects of PKC-delta activation on insulin action.