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First published online September 16, 2009
doi: 10.1242/10.1242/jcs.047449

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Variations in the requirement for v-SNAREs in GLUT4 trafficking in adipocytes

Ping Zhao^1,2,*, Lu Yang^1,3,*, Jamie A. Lopez², Junmei Fan¹, James G. Burchfield², Li Bai¹, Wanjin Hong⁴, Tao Xu^1, and David E. James^2,

¹ National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
² Diabetes and Obesity Program, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney 2010, Australia
³ Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China
⁴ Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Singapore 138673, Singapore

Authors for correspondence (xutao{at}ibp.ac.cn; d.james{at}garvan.org.au)

Accepted 19 July 2009

Vesicle transport in eukaryotic cells is regulated by SNARE proteins, which play an intimate role in regulating the specificity of vesicle fusion between discrete intracellular organelles. In the present study we investigated the function and plasticity of v-SNAREs in insulin-regulated GLUT4 trafficking in adipocytes. Using a combination of knockout mice, v-SNARE cleavage by clostridial toxins and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy, we interrogated the function of VAMPs 2, 3 and 8 in this process. Our studies reveal that the simultaneous disruption of VAMPs 2, 3 and 8 completely inhibited insulin-stimulated GLUT4 insertion into the plasma membrane, due to a block in vesicle docking at the plasma membrane. These defects could be rescued by re-expression of VAMP2, VAMP3 or VAMP8 alone, but not VAMP7. These data indicate a plasticity in the requirement for v-SNAREs in GLUT4 trafficking to the plasma membrane and further define an important role for the v-SNARE proteins in pre-fusion docking of vesicles.

Key words: SNARE proteins, Membrane transport, Vesicle docking, VAMP

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