Properties of proinsulin and related polypeptides

History and diagnostic significance of C-peptide

Starting with the epoch-making discovery of proinsulin, C-peptide has played an important interdisciplinary role, both as part of the single-chain precursor molecule and as an individual entity. In the pioneering years, fundamental systematic experiments unravelled new biochemical mechanisms and chemical structures. After the first detection of C-peptide in human serum, it quickly became a most useful independent indicator of insulin biosynthesis and secretion, finding application in a rapidly growing number of clinical investigations. A prerequisite was the development of specific immuno assays for proinsulin and C-peptide. Further milestones were: the chemical synthesis of several C-peptides and the accomplishments in the synthesis of proinsulin; the detection of preproinsulin with its bearings on understanding protein biosynthesis; the pioneering role of insulin, proinsulin, C-peptide, and mini-C-peptides in the development of recombinant DNA technology; and the discovery of the enzymes for the endoproteolytic processing of proinsulin into insulin and C-peptide, completing the pathway of biosynthesis. Today, C-peptide continues to serve as a special diagnostic tool in Diabetology and related fields. Thus, its passive role is well established. Evidence for its active role in physiology and pathophysiology is more recent and is subject of the following contributions.

Purification of insulin-specific protease by affinity chromatography

A single enzyme that proteolytically degrades insulin was isolated from rat skeletal muscle. This enzyme was purified 1000-fold by a series of steps, including affinity chromatography on insulin bound to agarose at the NH(2)-terminal phenylalanine of the B chain. Insulin linked to agarose at the B-29 lysine residue did not bind the enzyme and, therefore, was not suitable for purification procedures. Insulin linked at the phenylalanine residue was a substrate for the enzyme and was degraded by it; insulin attached to agarose at the lysine residue was not degraded by the enzyme. The purified enzyme preparation yielded one major band on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and elution of this area of the gel yielded insulin-degrading activity. The purified enzyme degraded insulin but not proinsulin, with a K(m) for insulin of 22 nM and a K(i) for proinsulin of 40 nM. The enzyme is sulfhydryl-dependent, with a physiological pH optimum.