Lysophosphatidic acid stimulates glucose transport in Xenopus oocytes via a phosphatidylinositol 3′-kinase with distinct properties

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) stimulated the transport of deoxyglucose into oocytes isolated from Xenopus laevis. This stimulation was accounted for entirely by an increase in the V_max for transport. Various LPAs with different acyl groups in the sn-1 position and phosphatidic acid stimulated deoxyglucose (deGlc) transport in these cells with a rank order potency of 1-oleoyl-LPA > 1-palmitoyl-LPA > phosphatidic acid = 1-stearoyl-LPA > 1-myristoyl-LPA. The phosphatidylinositol 3´-kinase inhibitor LY294002 completely blocked LPA-stimulated deoxyglucose uptake (IC₅₀ ~2 μM). In marked contrast, wortmannin, which can completely block both insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I)-stimulated deGlc uptake in oocytes and phosphatidylinositol 3´-kinase activation at concentrations as low as 20 nM [Gould, Jess, Andrews, Herbst, Plevin and Gibbs (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 26622–26625], was a relatively poor inhibitor of LPA-stimulated deGlc transport, even at concentrations as high as 100 nM. We further show that LPA stimulates phosphatidylinositol 3´-kinase activity(s) that can phosphorylate both phosphatidylinositol and phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate, and that this stimulation is inhibited by LY294002 but is relatively insensitive to wortmannin, again in marked contrast to IGF-I-stimulated phosphatidylinositol 3´-kinase activity. Antibodies against the p85 regulatory subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3´-kinase or antiphosphotyrosine antibodies immunoprecipitated IGF-I-stimulated but not LPA-stimulated phosphatidylinositol 3´-kinase activity. We conclude that LPA stimulates glucose uptake in Xenopus oocytes by a mechanism that may involve activation of a form of phosphatidylinositol 3´-kinase that is distinguished from other isoforms by its resistance to wortmannin and by its substrate specificity. Since the LPA-activated form of phosphatidylinositol 3´-kinase is pharmacologically and immunologically distinct from that which is involved in IGF-I-stimulated glucose transport in these cells, we suggest that distinct isoforms of this enzyme are able to function with the same biological effect, at least in the regulation of sugar transport.