Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3 kinase) inhibition disrupts the ability of insulin to stimulate GLUT1 and GLUT4 translocation into the cell membrane and thus glucose transport. The effect on GLUT4 but not on GLUT1 is mediated by activation of protein kinase B (PKB). The serum-and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase SGK1, a further kinase downstream of PI3 kinase, regulates several transporters by enhancing their plasma membrane abundance. GLUT1 contains a consensus site ( 95 Ser) for phosphorylation by SGK1. Thus, the present study investigated whether GLUT1 is regulated by the kinase. Tracer-flux studies in Xenopus oocytes and HEK-293 cells demonstrated that GLUT1 transport is enhanced by constitutively active S422D SGK1. The effect requires the kinase catalytical activity since the inactive mutant K127N SGK1 failed to modulate GLUT1. GLUT1 stimulation by S422D SGK1 is not due to de novo protein synthesis but rather to an increase of the transporter's abundance in the plasma membrane. Kinetic analysis revealed that SGK1 enhances maximal transport rate without altering GLUT1 substrate affinity. These observations suggest that SGK1 regulates GLUT1 and may contribute to or account for the PI3 kinasedependent but PKB-independent stimulation of GLUT1 by insulin. Diabetes 55:421-427, 2006 I nsulin stimulates glucose transport in hormoneresponsive tissues mainly by inducing the redistribution of the facilitated hexose carrier isoforms GLUT1 (SLC2A1) and GLUT4 (SLC2A4) from intracellular compartments to the plasma membrane (1-3). The cascade of signaling events involved in glucose transporter trafficking to the cell surface in response to insulin is triggered by an increase in insulin receptor tyrosine kinase activity followed by tyrosine phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrate proteins and activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3 kinase). Downstream elements of PI3 kinase include the phosphoinositide-dependent kinase PDK1, which in turn phosphorylates and thus activates the serine/threonine kinase Akt/protein kinase B (PKB) (4 -6).The role of PI3 kinase in insulin-dependent and -independent stimulation of GLUT1 and GLUT4 translocation has been confirmed by several studies using pharmacological (Wortmannin and LY294002) blockade and genetic (PI3 kinase dominant-negative mutants) knockout of the kinase (7-11). The effect of PI3 kinase on GLUT4 trafficking is mediated by PKB (12,13). PKB is, however, at least in some cells, not required for the PI3 kinase-dependent trafficking of GLUT1 (12). Thus, some other PI3 kinasedependent protein kinases are presumably involved in the regulation of GLUT1.A further downstream molecule in the PI3 kinase signaling cascade is the serum-and glucocorticoid-inducible kinase SGK1. SGK1 was originally cloned as a glucocorticoid-sensitive gene from rat mammary tumor cells (14) and later as a human cell volume-regulated gene (15). SGK1 shares ϳ80% homology with its isoforms SGK2 and SGK3 (16) and ϳ60% homology with PKB (17).To become catalytically active, SGK1 requires phosphoryl...