Insulin regulates the activity of forkhead transcription factor Hnf-3β/Foxa-2 by Akt-mediated phosphorylation and nuclear/cytosolic localization

Hepatocyte nuclear factors 3 alpha, beta, and gamma (Foxa-1, -2, and -3) are transcriptional activators of important metabolic genes in the liver that are suppressed by the actions of insulin. Here, we show that the activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt by insulin induces Foxa-2 phosphorylation, nuclear exclusion, and inhibition of Foxa-2-dependent transcriptional activity. Foxa-2 physically interacts with Akt, a key mediator of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway and is phosphorylated at a single conserved site (T156) that is absent in Foxa-1 and Foxa-3 proteins. This Akt phosphorylation site in Foxa-2 is highly conserved from mammals to insects. Mutant Foxa-2(T156A) is resistant to Akt-mediated phosphorylation, nuclear exclusion, and transcriptional inactivation of Foxa-2-regulated gene expression. These results implicate an evolutionarily conserved mechanism in the regulation of Foxa-2-dependent transcriptional control by extracellular signals such as insulin.