Various lipids were tested as substrates for the insulin receptor kinase using either receptor partially purified from rat hepatoma cells by wheat-germ-agglutinin-Sepharose chromatography or receptor purified from human placenta by insulin-Sepharose affinity chromatography. Phosphatidylinositol was phosphorylated to phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate by the partially purified insulin receptor. In contrast, phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate and diacylglycerol were not phosphorylated. In some, but not all preparations of partially purified insulin receptor, the phosphatidylinositol kinase activity was stimulated by insulin (mean effect 33%). Phosphatidylinositol kinase activity was retained in insulin receptor purified to homogeneity. Insulin regulation of the phosphatidylinositol kinase was lost in the purified receptor; however, dithiothreitol stimulated both autophosphorylation of the purified receptor and phosphatidylinositol kinase activity in parallel about threefold. (Glu80Tyr20)n, a polymeric substrate specific to tyrosine kinases, inhibited the phosphatidylinositol kinase activity of the purified receptor by greater than 90% and inhibited receptor autophosphorylation by 67%. Immunoprecipitation by specific anti-receptor antibodies depleted by greater than 90% the phosphatidylinositol kinase activity in the supernatant of the purified receptor and the phosphatidylinositol kinase activity was recovered in the precipitate in parallel with receptor autophosphorylation activity. These characteristics of the phosphatidylinositol kinase activity of the purified insulin receptor and its metal ion preference paralleled those of the receptor tyrosine kinase activity and differed from bulk phosphatidylinositol kinase activity in cell extracts, which was not significantly inhibited by (Glu80Tyr20)n, stimulated by dithiothreitol or depleted by immunoprecipitation with anti-(insulin receptor) antibody. These results suggest that the insulin receptor is associated with a phosphatidylinositol kinase activity; however, this activity is not well regulated by insulin. This kinase appears to be distinct from the major phosphatidylinositol kinase(s) of cells. Its relationship to insulin action needs further study.

The type A syndrome of insulin resistance and acanthosis nigricans is characterized by severe insulin resistance due to a cellular defect in insulin action. To better understand the molecular nature of this defect, we have investigated insulin binding to circulating monocytes, erythrocytes, and the Triton X-100-solubilized erythrocyte receptor, and insulin-stimulated receptor autophosphorylation using cells and receptor from three type A patients. Insulin binding in both circulating cells and the soluble extract of erythrocytes indicated a heterogeneity of defects. Patients A1 and A2 both presented a major decrease in tracer insulin binding to intact cells and soluble insulin receptor. Determination of stoichiometric binding parameters using a cooperative model indicated that in patient A1 this was due to a reduction in the number of receptors, whereas in patient A2 the affinity constant for binding was decreased. Patient A3 presented near-normal insulin binding to erythrocytes and normal binding in intact monocytes, solubilized erythrocyte receptors, and cultured fibroblasts. Affinity labeling of erythrocyte receptor from this patient revealed a normal alpha-subunit and also a normal relative distribution of the higher-molecular-weight, nonreduced oligomeric forms of the receptor. Receptor autophosphorylation was measured using the solubilized insulin receptor from erythrocytes. The maximal stimulated phosphorylation was reduced by 79%, 76%, and 52% in patients A1, A2, and A3, respectively, relative to the simultaneous control. In all three patients, the autophosphorylation was stimulated only 1.0-3.5 times the basal level compared with controls, in which the stimulation was 5.7-fold +/- 1.2 (mean +/- 1 SD, P less than 0.005). In addition, in patients A1 and A2 a decrease in basal phosphorylation was observed and in patient A2 there was a rightward shift of the dose-response curve for insulin stimulation. These data and the correlation of coupling of receptor phosphorylation with the fractional occupancy of the receptor measured in the same extract suggest that these patients exhibit three types of defects. In patient A1, there is a loss in receptor number manifested by a parallel decrease in insulin binding and receptor phosphorylation. In patient A2, there is an additional decrease in the affinity constant leading to a decrease in both binding and receptor phosphorylation with an almost linear coupling between receptor occupancy and receptor phosphorylation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

After reaching confluence, mononucleated L6 myoblasts fuse into multinucleated contracting myotubes. This process is accompanied by the synthesis of characteristic skeletal muscle proteins, such as myosin heavy chain and the MM isoenzyme of creatine kinase. We have studied the development of insulin receptors and insulin responsiveness during differentiation in the L6 cells. Insulin was bound to high affinity receptors in both myoblasts and differentiated myotubes. The binding showed characteristics typical for insulin binding in other cell types, including high affinity, appropriate specificity, an upwardly concave Scatchard plot, and down-regulation. In the logarithmic growth phase, the myoblasts exhibited a low level of insulin binding, but on initiation of cell fusion, the resulting myotubes progressively developed a 2-fold increase in specific [125I]iodoinsulin binding as a result of a 2-fold increase in receptor number. The increase in insulin binding was an early differentiation event, preceding the accumulation of creatine kinase by 24 h. The development of insulin binding during differentiation correlated closely with an increased ability of the hormone to stimulate maximal 2-deoxy-D-glucose and alpha-aminoisobutyric acid uptake at physiological concentrations. The L6 cells are a useful model for studying the binding and effects of physiological insulin concentrations in skeletal muscle before and after differentiation.