Ischemia induces translocation of the insulin-responsive glucose transporter GLUT4 to the plasma membrane of cardiac myocytes.

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Abstract
BACKGROUNDAcute myocardial ischemia is accompanied by an increase in glucose uptake and metabolism, which appears to be important in protecting myocardial cells from irreversible ischemic injury. Because insulin augments myocardial glucose uptake by inducing the translocation of glucose transporters from an intracellular compartment to the plasma membrane, we hypothesized that acute ischemia would trigger a similar translocation.METHODS AND RESULTSWe used a subcellular fractionation method to separate intracellular membrane and plasma membranes from control, ischemic, and hypoxic Langendorff-isolated perfused rat hearts and determined the expression of the major myocardial glucose transporter, GLUT4, in these separated membrane fractions. We found that translocation of GLUT4 molecules occurred in ischemic, hypoxic, and insulin-treated hearts and in hearts that underwent ischemia plus insulin treatment. The percentages of GLUT4 molecules present on the plasma membrane in the different conditions were as fo...

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