AMPK-mediated AS160 phosphorylation in skeletal muscle is dependent on AMPK catalytic and regulatory subunits

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a heterotrimeric protein that regulates glucose transport mediated by cellular stress or pharmacological agonists such as 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide 1 beta-D-ribonucleoside (AICAR). AS160, a Rab GTPase-activating protein, provides a mechanism linking AMPK signaling to glucose uptake. We show that AICAR increases AMPK, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, and AS160 phosphorylation by insulin-independent mechanisms in isolated skeletal muscle. Recombinant AMPK heterotrimeric complexes (alpha 1 beta 1 gamma l and alpha 2 beta 2 gamma 1) phosphorylate AS160 in a cell-free assay. In mice deficient in AMPK signaling (alpha 2 AMPK knockout [KO], alpha 2 AMPK kinase dead [KD], and gamma 3 AMPK KO), AICAR effects on AS160 phosphorylation were severely blunted, highlighting that complexes containing alpha 2 and gamma 3 are necessary for AICAR-stimulated AS160 phosphorylation in intact skeletal muscle. Contraction-mediated AS160 phosphorylation was also impaired in alpha 2 AMPK KO and KD but not gamma 3 AMPK KO mice. Our results implicate AS160 as a downstream target of AMPK.