The molecular mechanisms of induction of tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) by insulin were studied in the well-differentiated rat hepatoma cell line Fao. Incubation of Fao cells with insulin resulted in a 2-fold increase in TAT activity and TAT mRNA measured by Northern blot analysis with an oligonucleotide probe to the 5' end of the gene. The effect of insulin on TAT activity had a lag period of 30-60 min and was maximal within 4-5 h. The insulin effect on TAT mRNA was rapid, half-maximal after 15 min, and complete within 1-2 h. Insulin dose-response curves for stimulation of TAT activity and TAT mRNA were almost identical. TAT mRNA levels and enzyme activity were also stimulated by anti-insulin receptor antibodies and dexamethasone but not by wheat germ agglutinin, concanavalin A, or phytohemagglutin. The effect of insulin on the TAT gene was further investigated by measuring the relative rate of transcription in isolated nuclei using genomic TAT clones. Insulin produced a 1.5-1.7-fold increase in the production of TAT RNA transcripts. Dexamethasone induced both TAT activity and TAT mRNA to a comparable extent. In the presence of dexamethasone, insulin produced an additional 2-fold stimulation of TAT activity but had no additional effect on the abundance of TAT mRNA. These data provide direct evidence that insulin can increase TAT activity by at least two distinct mechanisms: insulin alone appears to increase TAT activity and TAT mRNA due to a stimulation of the TAT gene transcription rate; while in the presence of glucocorticoids, insulin increases TAT activity but not TAT mRNA, suggesting an insulin effect at the posttranscriptional level.