Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion is mediated by syntaxin 4-based SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor) protein complexes and the Sec1/ Munc18 protein Munc18c. Our laboratory recently reported that Munc18c-syntaxin 4 complexes are further regulated by the competitive binding of the double C2 domain protein Doc2 to Munc18c, although the underlying mechanism for this is unknown. Because the Doc2 binding region of Munc18c contained residue Tyr-219 and this residue becomes phosphorylated in response to glucose stimulation, we hypothesized that the mechanism would involve Munc18c phosphorylation. Coimmunoprecipitation analyses using detergent lysates prepared from pervanadate-treated MIN6 beta cells revealed that the tyrosine phosphorylation of Munc18c corresponded to a 60% decrease in Glucose homeostasis requires "cross-talk" between insulin signaling in peripheral tissues (adipose and muscle) and insulin secretion from pancreatic islet beta cells. Both glucose uptake and insulin secretion are mediated by syntaxin 4-based SNARE 2 protein complexes (1, 2). The vesicle-associated SNARE protein (VAMP2) is functional in both glucose uptake and insulin granule exocytosis processes and complexes with the binary cognate receptor complex at the target membrane composed of SNAP23 and syntaxin 4 proteins (t-SNAREs) to form a SNARE heterotrimeric complex (3-11). This SNARE core complex is further regulated by the Munc18c isoform of the Sec1/Munc18 secretory protein family through its ability to directly bind to syntaxin 4 at the plasma membrane (8,(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20). Although genetic models of Munc18c over-expression (12) and under-expression (13, 21) have both unequivocally substantiated Munc18c as a key and physiologically relevant regulator of glucose homeostasis by its impact upon syntaxin 4-mediated exocytosis, its precise role as a negative or positive factor in the molecular mechanism has remained unresolved. Evidence in favor of Munc18c as a negative regulator of exocytosis is principally based upon over-expression methodologies but was supported by crystallographic and NMR data showing that the neuronal Munc18 protein (nSec1/Munc18-1/ Munc18a) held its syntaxin 1 binding partner in a closed conformation in a 1:1 stoichiometric complex (22, 23) and in vitro protein-protein interaction studies stating the absence of Munc18 from the 7 S and 20 S SNARE complexes (24, 25). The role of Munc18c as a possible positive regulator in exocytosis is based upon aberrant glucose uptake and insulin secretion from Munc18c heterozygous knock-out mice and peptide interference of endogenous Munc18c-syntaxin 4 association in 3T3L1 adipocytes (13,20). In addition, recent in vitro data have detected Sec1/Munc18 proteins associated with SNARE core complexes (26 -29). Notably, these recent in vitro studies were conducted using milder detergent conditions than earlier studies that showed Sec1/Munc18 protein binding to monomeric syntaxin in cell lysates (30 -33). These differing buf...