In L6 Cells. A) L6 myoblasts were transfected with Flag-nexilin or vector alone together with GRP1-PH-GFP cDNA. Following starvation, cells were stimulated with 100 nM insulin and then fixed, permeabilized and probed with anti-Flag antibodies followed 22948146 by Cy3-conjugated donkey anti-mouse secondary abs (red). Cells were visualized for the presence of PIP3 accumulation in cell membranes using GRP1-PH-GFP. B) L6 cells were transfected with GRP1-PH-GFP and pretreated with Ly294002 (50 nM) prior to insulin stimulation and probed with anti-pAKT abs as in Figure 2. C) L6 myoblasts transfected with Flag-nexilin or vector alone were treated with 100 nM insulin for the indicated times and then probed with anti-Flag abs and Cy5-conjugated secondary abs (green) and rhodamine-phalloidin (red). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055634.gof insulin doses. Our data revealed that nexilin overexpression caused a substantial reduction of insulin-stimulated Akt phosphorylation in cells treated with 1 nM and 10 nM insulin that coincided with significant inhibition of glucose uptake when compared to control Ad-GFP cells (Fig. 8A, B). There was no effect on glucose uptake when 100 nM of insulin was used (data not shown) which may reflect the transmission of insulin signals toGLUT4 through an IRS2-dependent mechanism. Surprisingly, we also observed that recombinant expression of nexilin in 3T3-L1s blocked insulin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS1. From these results we hypothesize that excess nexilin may lead to intracellular sequestration of IRS1, physically restricting its access to the activated insulin receptor.Nexilin Binds and Regulates IRSFigure 7. Silencing of nexilin enhances AKT activation and glucose uptake. A,B) L6 myotubes transfected with either control or si-nex oligos and stimulated with increasing concentrations of insulin for 5 minutes. Whole cell lysates were resolved by SDS/PAGE and immunoblotted with the indicated antibodies. C) Glucose uptake in L6 myotubes. Serum-starved cells were incubated with 10 nM insulin for 20 minutes prior to Apocynin web exposure to [3H] 2-deoxyglucose for 5 minutes. Data are means 6 SE, n = 3 per group, one-way ANOVA (* P,0.05). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055634.gIn conclusion, we have identified nexilin as a novel negative regulator of IRS1-dependent signaling leading to glucose uptake. Furthermore, our findings raise the intriguing possibility that the selective binding of nexilin to IRS1 and not IRS2 may 1418741-86-2 contribute to the differential specificity of IRS isoforms in the modulation of GLUT4 trafficking in skeletal muscle. In this study we demonstrate that nexilin plays a role in the insulin-dependent assembly and activation of the IRS1/PI3K/Akt signalosome. Under basal conditions, nexilin stably associates with IRS1 through the nexilin CC domain. Interestingly, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy-associated NEXN mutations in a cohort of Chinese patients were mapped to the ABD and CC domains of nexilin [24]. It 10457188 was revealed that the ABD but not CC mutations abolished binding to a-actin in skeletal muscle. These data provide a molecular framework for the scaffolding function of nexilin in linking IRS-1 to the actin filament network which has been 
implicated in the spatial orchestration of IRS1 signaling events. Our findings suggest that nexilin limits access of IRS1 to PI3K activation-coupling withoutcompromising insulin receptor substrate phosphorylation. Following insulin stimulation the interaction between nexilin and IRS1 is severe.In L6 Cells. A) L6 myoblasts were transfected with Flag-nexilin or vector alone together with GRP1-PH-GFP cDNA. Following starvation, cells were stimulated with 100 nM insulin and then fixed, permeabilized and probed with anti-Flag antibodies followed 22948146 by Cy3-conjugated donkey anti-mouse secondary abs (red). Cells were visualized for the presence of PIP3 accumulation in cell membranes using GRP1-PH-GFP. B) L6 cells were transfected with GRP1-PH-GFP and pretreated with Ly294002 (50 nM) prior to insulin stimulation and probed with anti-pAKT abs as in Figure 2. C) L6 myoblasts transfected with Flag-nexilin or vector alone were treated with 100 nM insulin for the indicated times and then probed with anti-Flag abs and Cy5-conjugated secondary abs (green) and rhodamine-phalloidin (red). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055634.gof insulin doses. Our data revealed that nexilin overexpression caused a substantial reduction of insulin-stimulated Akt phosphorylation in cells treated with 1 nM and 10 nM insulin that coincided with significant inhibition of glucose uptake when compared to control Ad-GFP cells (Fig. 8A, B). There was no effect on glucose uptake when 100 nM of insulin was used (data not shown) which may reflect the transmission of insulin signals toGLUT4 through an IRS2-dependent mechanism. Surprisingly, we also observed that recombinant expression of nexilin in 3T3-L1s blocked insulin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS1. From these results we hypothesize that excess nexilin may lead to intracellular sequestration of IRS1, physically restricting its access to the activated insulin receptor.Nexilin Binds and Regulates IRSFigure 7. Silencing of nexilin enhances AKT activation and glucose uptake. A,B) L6 myotubes transfected with either control or si-nex oligos and stimulated with increasing concentrations of insulin for 5 minutes. Whole cell lysates were resolved by SDS/PAGE and immunoblotted with the indicated antibodies. C) Glucose uptake in L6 myotubes. Serum-starved cells were incubated with 10 nM insulin for 20 minutes prior to exposure to [3H] 2-deoxyglucose for 5 minutes. Data are means 6 SE, n = 3 per group, one-way ANOVA (* P,0.05). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055634.gIn conclusion, we have identified nexilin as a novel negative regulator of IRS1-dependent signaling leading to glucose uptake. Furthermore, our findings raise the intriguing possibility that the selective binding of nexilin to IRS1 and not IRS2 may contribute to the differential specificity of IRS isoforms in the modulation of GLUT4 trafficking in skeletal muscle. In this study we demonstrate that nexilin plays a role in the insulin-dependent assembly and activation of the IRS1/PI3K/Akt signalosome. Under basal conditions, nexilin stably associates with IRS1 through the nexilin CC domain. Interestingly, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy-associated NEXN mutations in a cohort of Chinese patients were mapped to the ABD and CC domains of nexilin [24]. It 10457188 was revealed that the ABD but not CC mutations abolished binding to a-actin in skeletal muscle. These data provide a molecular framework for the scaffolding function of nexilin in linking IRS-1 to the actin filament network which has been implicated in the spatial orchestration of IRS1 
signaling events. Our findings suggest that nexilin limits access of IRS1 to PI3K activation-coupling withoutcompromising insulin receptor substrate phosphorylation. Following insulin stimulation the interaction between nexilin and IRS1 is severe.
