Lipid-free apoA-I and mature spherical HDL have been shown to induce glucose uptake in skeletal muscle. To exploit apoA-I and HDL states for diabetes therapy, further understanding of interaction between muscle and apoA-I is required. This study has examined whether nascent discoidal HDL, in which apoA-I attains a different conformation from mature HDL and lipid-free states, could induce muscle glucose uptake and whether a specific domain of apoA-I can mediate this effect. Using L6 myotubes stimulated with synthetic reconstituted discoidal HDL (rHDL), we show a glucose uptake effect comparable to insulin. Increased plasma membrane GLUT4 levels in ex vivo rHDL-stimulated myofibers from HA-GLUT4-GFP transgenic mice support this observation. rHDL increased phosphorylation of AMP kinase (AMPK) and acetyl-coA carboxylase (ACC) but not Akt. A survey of domain-specific peptides of apoA-I showed that the lipid-free C-terminal 190–243 fragment increases plasma membrane GLUT4, promotes glucose uptake, and activates AMPK signaling but not Akt. This may be explained by changes in α-helical content of 190–243 fragment versus full-length lipid-free apoA-I as assessed by circular dichroism spectroscopy. Discoidal HDL and the >190–243 peptide of apoA-I are potent agonists of glucose uptake in skeletal muscle, and the C-terminal α-helical content of apoA-I may be an important determinant of this effect.
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