Cell-wide analysis of secretory granule dynamics in three dimensions in living pancreatic β-cells: evidence against a role for AMPK-dependent phosphorylation of KLC1 at Ser⁵¹⁷/Ser⁵²⁰ in glucose-stimulated insulin granule movement

Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cells requires the kinesin-1/Kif5B-mediated transport of insulin granules along microtubules. 5′-AMPK (5′-AMP-activated protein kinase) is a heterotrimeric serine/threonine kinase which is activated in β-cells at low glucose concentrations, but inhibited as glucose levels increase. Active AMPK blocks glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and the recruitment of insulin granules to the cell surface, suggesting motor proteins may be targets for this kinase. While both kinesin-1/Kif5B and KLC1 (kinesin light chain-1) contain consensus AMPK phosphorylation sites (Thr⁶⁹³ and Ser⁵²⁰, respectively) only recombinant GST (glutathione transferase)–KLC1 was phosphorylated by purified AMPK in vitro. To test the hypothesis that phosphorylation at this site may modulate kinesin-1-mediated granule movement, we developed an approach to study the dynamics of all the resolvable granules within a cell in three dimensions. This cell-wide approach revealed that the number of longer excursions (>10 μm) increased significantly in response to elevated glucose concentration (30 versus 3 mM) in control MIN6 β-cells. However, similar changes were seen in cells overexpressing wild-type KLC1, phosphomimetic (S517D/S520D) or non-phosphorylatable (S517A/S520A) mutants of KLC1. Thus, changes in the phosphorylation state of KLC1 at Ser⁵¹⁷/Ser⁵²⁰ seem unlikely to affect motor function.