The structure of the insulin receptor was studied with polyclonal antibodies obtained from rabbits which were immunized with synthetic peptides having a sequence identity to three regions of the alpha-subunit and five regions of the beta-subunit. None of the alpha-subunit antibodies including alpha-Pep8 (residues 40-49 (Ullrich, A., Bell, J.R., Chen, E.Y., Herrera, R., Petruzzelli, L.M., Dull, T.J., Gray, A., Coussens, L., Liao, Y.-C., Tsubokawa, M., Mason, A., Seeburg, P.H., Grunfeld, C., Rosen, O.M., and Ramachandran, J. (1985) Nature 313, 756-761), alpha-Pep7 (12 amino acid C-terminal extension (Ebina, Y., Ellis, L., Jarnagin, K., Ederly, M., Graf, L., Clauser, E., Ou, J.-H., Masiar, F., Kan, Y.W., Goldfine, I.D., Roth, R.A., and Rutter, W.J. (1985) Cell 313, 747-758], or alpha-Pep6 (residues 1-7, 9) immunoprecipitated the human insulin receptor solubilized from IM-9 lymphocytes; however, alpha-Pep8 immunoprecipitated the dithiothreitol-reduced receptor. Antibodies prepared against the N terminus of the beta-subunit (alpha-Pep5, residues 780-790) and the ATP binding site (alpha-Pep3, residues 1013-1022) did not react with the intact receptor under any conditions; however, antibodies to the C terminus of the beta-subunit (alpha-Pep1, residues 1314-1324) and to the juxta-membrane region (alpha-Pep3, residues 952-962) immunoprecipitated the solubilized receptor in both its phosphorylated and nonphosphorylated forms. In contrast, the antibody reactive with the regulatory region of the beta-subunit which contains the major autophosphorylation sites (alpha-Pep2, residues 1143-1154) only precipitated the phosphorylated form. Thus the conformation of the extracellular domain of the receptor is rigid and stabilized by disulfide bonds, whereas several regions of the intracellular domain are accessible to antibodies and undergo conformational changes during autophosphorylation.

The receptors for insulin and epidermal growth factor undergo tyrosine autophosphorylation in response to ligand stimulation, while pp60v-src is an unregulated tyrosine kinase. In this report we show that each of the kinases phosphorylates an exogenous peptide that corresponds to the insulin proreceptor sequence 1142-1153. When the kinases were pre-phosphorylated, saturable Michaelis-Menten kinetics were observed. However, when the kinases had not been pre-phosphorylated biphasic kinetics were observed; at progressively higher substrate concentrations (greater than Km) less substrate phosphorylation was seen. Furthermore, when the kinases had not been pre-phosphorylated kinase autophosphorylation was inhibited at high substrate concentrations. On this basis we postulated that the substrate inhibition of substrate phosphorylation resulted directly from substrate inhibition of kinase autophosphorylation. To test this we designed additional peptides to function specifically as inhibitors of the kinases. Each of the 3 tyrosine residues within the substrate sequence were replaced either by 4-methoxyphenylalanine or phenylalanine, residues structurally similar to tyrosine but unable to accept phosphoryl transfer. Both analogs inhibited insulin and epidermal growth factor receptor autophosphorylation, whereas only the Phe-substituted analog inhibited pp60v-src phosphorylation. These data suggest that autophosphorylation of tyrosine residues near the kinase active site is a generalized mechanism for tyrosine kinase activation and that activation can be selectively blocked by substrates and nonphosphorylatable analogs.

Using the well differentiated rat hepatoma Fao we have studied the regulation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) mRNA by insulin and glucose and compared these results to glucose production as estimated by glucose release into the medium. Fao cells possess an active gluconeogenic pathway and, when grown in glucose-free medium, release glucose for over 8 h. Addition of the cAMP analog, 8-(4-chlorophenyl-thio) cAMP (8-CTP-cAMP) or increasing the concentration of dihydroxyacetone and oxaloacetate results in an increase in glucose release which can be suppressed by insulin at concentrations between 1 and 100 nM. These effect of cAMP and insulin are associated with parallel changes in the level of mRNAPEPCK. Insulin treatment reduces mRNAPEPCK levels in these cells by 80%; this effect is transient reaching a maximum at 2-4 h. Addition of glucose to cells grown in glucose-free (G-) medium produces a decrease in mRNAPEPCK which is similar in magnitude and kinetics to that produced by insulin. Conversely, when cells grown in normal medium are placed in G- medium mRNAPEPCK levels triple over a period of 8 h, then return toward the basal value. Cells grown in G- medium or in G- medium plus 10nM insulin for 1 yr exhibit only slightly increased levels of mRNAPEPCK and respond to both 8-CTP-cAMP, and insulin, although the response to 8-CTP-cAMP is slightly blunted. These data indicate that glucose and insulin can play independent roles in regulation of PEPCK gene expression, and that these regulatory effects are usually transient.

The relation between insulin-stimulated autophosphorylation of the insulin receptor and internalization of the receptor was studied in Fao rat hepatoma cells. Treatment of Fao cells with 2,4-dinitrophenol for 45 min depleted cellular ATP by 80% and equally inhibited insulin-stimulated receptor autophosphorylation, as determined by immunoprecipitation of surface-iodinated or [32P]phosphate-labeled cells with anti-phosphotyrosine antibody. In contrast, internalization of the insulin receptor and internalization and degradation of 125I-labeled insulin by 2,4-dinitrophenol-treated cells were normal. These data show that autophosphorylation of the insulin receptor is not required for the receptor-mediated internalization of insulin in Fao cells and suggest that insulin receptor recycling is independent of autophosphorylation.

Insulin stimulated autophosphorylation of the beta-subunit of the insulin receptor purified from Fao hepatoma cells or purified from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO/HIRC) or Swiss 3T3 (3T3/HIRC) cells transfected with the wild-type human insulin receptor cDNA. Autophosphorylation of the purified receptor occurred in at least two regions of the beta-subunit: the regulatory region containing Tyr-1146, Tyr-1150, and Tyr-1151, and the C-terminus containing Tyr-1316 and Tyr-1322. In the presence of antiphosphotyrosine antibody (alpha-PY), autophosphorylation of the purified receptor was inhibited nearly 80% during insulin stimulation. Tryptic peptide mapping showed that alpha-PY inhibited autophosphorylation of both tyrosyl residues in the C-terminus and one tyrosyl residue in the regulatory region, either Tyr-1150 or Tyr-1151. Thus, a bis-phosphorylated form of the regulatory region accumulated in the presence of alpha-PY, which contained Tyr(P)-1146 and either Tyr(P)-1150 or 1151. In intact Fao, CHO/HIRC, and 3T3/HIRC cells, insulin stimulated tyrosyl phosphorylation of the beta-subunit of the insulin receptor. Tryptic peptide mapping indicated that the regulatory region of the beta-subunit was mainly (greater than 80%) bis-phosphorylated; however, all three tyrosyl residues of the regulatory region were phosphorylated in about 20% of the receptors. As the phosphotransferase was activated by tris-phosphorylation but not bis-phosphorylation of the regulatory region of the beta-subunit (White et al.: Journal of Biological Chemistry 263:2969-2980, 1988), the extent of autophosphorylation in the regulatory region may play an important regulatory role during signal transmission in the intact cell.

The major species of human insulin receptor mRNA (5.9, 7.5, 8.5 and 10.2 kb) and those in rat tissues (7.4 and 9.6 kb) are each much larger than the 4.2 kb required to encode the insulin receptor precursor. To evaluate the structural basis for this mRNA size heterogeneity, we performed a ribonuclease H mapping technique. A small insulin receptor cDNA insert was annealed to human and rat poly(A) RNA, followed by site-specific enzymatic cleavage with ribonuclease H. Subsequent Northern blot analysis with cDNA probes specific to the 5' end of the cDNA revealed a single fragment from each of the human and rat insulin receptor mRNA species. The size of this fragment indicated that each mRNA contains approximately 0.4 kb of 5' untranslated mRNA. In contrast, a 3' region probe demonstrated multiple mRNA fragments after cleavage. The sizes of these fragments indicated that the human insulin receptor mRNA species contain from 1.5 to 5.4 kb, and the rat insulin receptor mRNAs either 2.8 or 5.3 kb, of 3' untranslated RNA. Thus, the presence of varied, but extensive, 3' untranslated sequences in insulin receptor mRNA transcripts accounts for their size heterogeneity and may affect mRNA stability and/or translation efficiency.

Insulin-producing beta-cells were selectively absent from the islets of Langerhans in postmortem specimens from two patients with Wolfram's syndrome. In families with multiple cases of this syndrome, we found a very high concordance rate (r = .910, P less than .001) among siblings for age at onset of diabetes mellitus. Taken together with the lack of markers for an autoimmune process, these findings suggest that diabetes mellitus in this syndrome results from genetically programmed selective beta-cell death.

We have studied the phosphorylation state of the insulin receptor during receptor-mediated endocytosis in the well-differentiated rat hepatoma cell line Fao. Insulin induced the rapid internalization of surface-iodinated insulin receptors into a trypsin-resistant compartment, with a 3-fold increase in the internalization rate over that seen in the absence of insulin. Within 20 min of insulin stimulation, 30-35% of surface receptors were located inside the cell. This redistribution was half-maximal by 10.5 min. Similar results were obtained when the loss of surface receptors was measured by 125I-insulin binding. Tyrosyl phosphorylation of internalized insulin receptors was measured by immunoprecipitation with antiphosphotyrosine antibody. Immediately after insulin stimulation, 70-80% of internalized receptors were tyrosine phosphorylated. Internalized receptors persisted in a phosphorylated state after the dissociation of insulin but were dephosphorylated prior to their return to the plasma membrane. After 45-60 min of insulin stimulation, the tyrosine phosphorylation of the internal receptor pool decreased by 45%, whereas the phosphorylation of surface receptors was unchanged. These data suggest that insulin induces the internalization of phosphorylated insulin receptors into the cell and that the phosphorylation state of the internal receptor pool may be regulated by insulin.

Insulin actions and receptors were studied in capillary endothelial cells cultured from diabetic BB rats and their nondiabetic colony mates. The endothelial cells from diabetic rats of 2 mo duration had persistent biological and biochemical defects in culture. Compared with normal rats, endothelial cells from diabetic rats grew 44% more slowly. Binding studies of insulin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) showed that cells from diabetic rats had 50% decrease of insulin receptor binding (nondiabetic: 4.6 +/- 0.7; diabetic: 2.6 +/- 0.4% per milligram protein, P less than 0.01), which was caused by a 50% decrease in the number of binding sites per milligram protein, whereas IGF-I binding was not changed. Insulin stimulation of 2-deoxy-glucose uptake and alpha-aminoisobutyric acid uptake were also severely impaired with a 80-90% decrease in maximal stimulation, in parallel with a 62% decrease in insulin-stimulated autophosphorylation (P less than 0.05). 125I-insulin cross-linking revealed an 140-kD alpha subunit of the insulin receptor similar to that in cells from nondiabetic rats, although bands at greater than 200 kD were also detected. The molecular weight of the insulin receptor beta subunit (by SDS-PAGE) was smaller in cells from diabetic than from normal rats (88-90 vs. 95 kD). Neuraminadase treatment of the partially purified insulin receptors decreased the molecular weight of the insulin receptors from nondiabetic rats to a greater degree than its diabetic counterpart. In contrast, Northern blot analysis of insulin receptor mRNAs using human cDNA probes revealed two species of 9.4 and 7.2 kb with no difference in mRNA abundance between cells from diabetic and nondiabetic rats. We conclude that the exposure of capillary endothelial cells to a diabetic milieu in vivo can cause specific and persistent changes in the insulin receptor and insulin action.