Tyrosine phosphorylation of two cytosolic proteins of 50 kDa and 35 kDa in rat liver by insulin-receptor kinase in vitro

Insulin-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of a 43 kDa protein in rat liver membranes

The insulin receptor (IR) tyrosine kinase is essential for the regulation of different cellular functions by insulin. This may occur by a direct phosphorylation of membrane and/or cytoplasmic proteins by the IR tyrosine kinase. Hence it is important to identify putative physiological substrates for the IR tyrosine kinase. In this study we found that the glycoprotein fraction from rat liver membranes contain a 43 kDa protein (pp43) which, like the beta-subunit of IR, is phosphorylated in an insulin-dependent manner. A 25-fold enhancement of 32P incorporation into pp43 by insulin was found under optimal conditions. Half-maximal phosphorylation of pp43 and the beta-subunit of IR were attained at 66 nM and 60 nM insulin, respectively. Mn2+ (Ka = 1.0 mM) was much better than Mg2+ (Ka = 6.3 mM) in supporting pp43 phosphorylation. Insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of pp43 (t1/2 = 3.6 min) proceeded at a much slower rate compared to that of the beta-subunit of IR (t1/2 = 1.2 min). Phosphoamino acid analysis of pp43 revealed that both tyrosine and serine are phosphorylated in the ratio 4:1. Tyrosine, but not serine, phosphorylation was increased 12-fold by insulin. Phosphorylation of pp43 occurred on 4 major tryptic peptides. Comparison to the tryptic phosphopeptides from IR beta-subunit suggest that pp43 was not derived from IR beta-subunit by proteolysis. Our results suggest that pp43 may be an endogenous substrate for the IR tyrosine kinase.

Insulin stimulates the tyrosyl phosphorylation and activation of the 52 kDa peripheral plasma-membrane cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase in intact hepatocytes

The 52 kDa subunit of the peripheral-plasma-membrane insulin-stimulated high-affinity cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase can be specifically detected by the antibody PM1 by Western-blotting procedures and also can be immunoprecipitated from a hepatocyte extract. PM1-mediated immunoprecipitation from hepatocyte extracts showed that insulin treatment of intact 32P-labelled hepatocytes caused the rapid phosphorylation of the peripheral-plasma-membrane cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase. Phosphoamino acid analysis and the use of a phosphotyrosine-specific antibody indicated that phosphorylation occurred on tyrosyl residue(s) of this phosphodiesterase. Prior treatment of hepatocytes with glucagon (10 nM) completely blocked the insulin-mediated tyrosyl phosphorylation of this 52 kDa protein, as detected with both the PM1 and the anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies. Treatment of hepatocytes with glucagon alone did not increase the phosphorylation state of the peripheral-plasma-membrane cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase. The specific anti-phosphotyrosine antibody also detected the insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of proteins of 180 kDa, 95 kDa and 39 kDa. Prior treatment of hepatocytes with glucagon decreased the ability of insulin to phosphorylate the 180 kDa and 39 kDa species, but not the 95 kDa species.