GLUT1 glucose transporter: differential gene transcription and mRNA binding to cytosolic and polysome proteins in brain and peripheral tissues.

The ratio of GLUT1 mRNA to actin mRNA in brain was 6- to 13- fold greater than the corresponding ratio in spleen, lung, testis, heart, and skeletal muscle in the rat. However, the ratio of GLUT1 transcription rate to actin transcription rate is comparable in brain and the five other organs. Organ extracts were fractionated into cytosol and polysomes, and ultraviolet light cross-linking studies were performed with these proteins and 32P-labeled GLUT1 mRNA containing the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) generated from transcription plasmids. The cytosol of brain, lung, spleen, C6 glioma cells in tissue culture, and freshly isolated bovine brain capillaries express a pair of 95 kDa and 74 kDa proteins, designated collectively as p88, and the polysome fraction of brain, testis, or C6 glioma cells express a 44-kDa protein, designated p44. In a middle cerebral artery occlusion model, brain cytosol p88 was up-regulated and p44 was down-regulated. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that GLUT1 gene expression is subject to regulation at the post-transcriptional level.