%0 Journal Article %A Kioumourtzoglou, Dimitrios %A Sadler, Jessica B.A. %A Black, Hannah L. %A Berends, Rebecca %A Wellburn, Cassie %A Bryant, Nia J. %A Gould, Gwyn W. %T Studies of the regulated assembly of SNARE complexes in adipocytes %D 2014 %R 10.1042/BST20140114 %J Biochemical Society Transactions %P 1396-1400 %V 42 %N 5 %X Insulin plays a fundamental role in whole-body glucose homeostasis. Central to this is the hormone's ability to rapidly stimulate the rate of glucose transport into adipocytes and muscle cells [1]. Upon binding its receptor, insulin stimulates an intracellular signalling cascade that culminates in redistribution of glucose transporter proteins, specifically the GLUT4 isoform, from intracellular stores to the plasma membrane, a process termed ‘translocation’ [1,2]. This is an example of regulated membrane trafficking [3], a process that also underpins other aspects of physiology in a number of specialized cell types, for example neurotransmission in brain/neurons and release of hormone-containing vesicles from specialized secretory cells such as those found in pancreatic islets. These processes invoke a number of intriguing biological questions as follows. How is the machinery involved in these membrane trafficking events mobilized in response to a stimulus? How do the signalling pathways that detect the external stimulus interface with the trafficking machinery? Recent studies of insulin-stimulated GLUT4 translocation offer insight into such questions. In the present paper, we have reviewed these studies and draw parallels with other regulated trafficking systems.Abbreviations: GLUT4, glucose transporter type 4; GSV, GLUT4 storage vesicle; IKK, inhibitor of nuclear factor κB kinase; IRV, insulin-response vesicle; PLA, proximity ligation assay; SM, Sec1/Munc18; SNARE, soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein-attachment protein receptor; SNAP23, 23 kDa synaptosome-associated protein; Sx, syntaxin; TI-VAMP, tetanus-insensitive VAMP; t-SNARE, target SNARE; VAMP, vesicle-associated membrane protein; v-SNARE, vesicle SNARE %U http://www.biochemsoctrans.org/content/ppbiost/42/5/1396.full.pdf