Insulin receptor substrates-1 and 2 (IRS-1 and IRS-2) are pivotal in relaying insulin signaling in insulin-responsive tissues such as muscle. However, the precise contribution of IRS-1 vis-à -vis IRS-2 in insulin-mediated metabolic and mitogenic responses has not been compared directly in differentiated muscle cells. This study aimed to determine the relative contribution of IRS-1 versus IRS-2 in these responses, using small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated specific gene silencing. In L6 myotubes, transfection of siRNA targeted specifically against IRS-1 (si-IRS-1) or IRS-2 (siIRS-2) reduced the cognate protein expression by 70 -75%. Insulin-induced ERK phosphorylation was much more sensitive to IRS-2 than IRS-1 ablation, whereas p38MAPK phosphorylation was reduced by 43 or 62% in myotubes treated with siIRS-1 or siIRS-2, respectively. Insulin-induced Akt1 and Akt2 phosphorylation was reduced in myotubes treated with siIRS-1, but only Akt2 phosphorylation was reduced in myotubes treated with siIRS-2. In contrast, siIRS-1 treatment caused a marked reduction in insulin-induced actin remodeling, glucose uptake, and GLUT4 translocation, and siIRS-2 was without effect on these responses. Notably, combined siIRS-1 and siIRS-2, although reducing each IRS by around 75%, caused no further drop in glucose uptake than that achieved with siIRS-1 alone, but abolished p38MAPK phosphorylation. We conclude that insulin-stimulated Akt1 phosphorylation, actin remodeling, GLUT4 translocation, and glucose uptake are regulated mainly by IRS-1, whereas IRS-2 contributes selectively to ERK signaling, and Akt2 and p38MAPK lie downstream of both IRS in muscle cells.
Insulin receptor substrates (IRSs)1 mediate diverse metabolic and mitogenic effects of insulin, and dysregulation of IRS expression and activation has been observed in both insulin resistance and diabetes (1-5). To date, six IRS proteins have been identified, but only IRS-1 and IRS-2 are thought to participate in regulation of glucose homeostasis (6 -9). Although IRS-1 and 2 have substantial amino acid similarity (10), there are significant structural differences between them. IRS-2 interacts with the insulin receptor via a phosphotyrosine-binding domain as well as a central domain located between amino acid 591 and 733 which is absent from IRS-1 (11, 12). Furthermore, IRS-1 and IRS-2 differ in their time course of insulin-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation (13,14), interaction with the MAPK pathway (15), and intracellular localization (14).Defining the exact roles of IRS isoforms in insulin-stimulated glucose uptake is not without controversy. In rat adipocytes, overexpression of human IRS-1 increased, whereas elimination of IRS-1 via antisense ribozyme reduced, insulinstimulated GLUT4 translocation (16). However, other studies observed intact insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation when the interaction between insulin receptor and IRS was blocked, although insulin-mediated DNA synthesis and cell growth were reduced (17-19). Furthermore, IRS-1-null mice, although significan...