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Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI-3 kinase) is implicated in the regulation of diverse cellular processes, including insulin-stimulated glucose transport. PI-3 kinase is composed of a 110-kDa catalytic subunit and an 85-kDa regulatory subunit. Here, we describe p55PIK, a new regulatory subunit that was isolated by screening expression libraries with tyrosine-phosphorylated insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1). p55PIK is composed of a unique 30-residue NH2 terminus followed by a proline-rich motif and two Src homology 2 (SH2) domains with significant sequence identify to those in p85. p55PIK mRNA is expressed early during development, remains abundant in adult mouse brain and testis tissue, and is detectable in adult adipocytes and heart and kidney tissues. p55PIK forms a stable complex with p110, and it associates with IRS-1 during insulin stimulation. Moreover, the activated insulin receptor phosphorylates p55PIK in Sf9 cells, and insulin stimulates p55PIK phosphorylation in CHOIR/p55PIK cells. The unique features of p55PIK suggest that it is important in receptor signaling.

IRS-1 (insulin receptor substrate 1) is a principal insulin receptor substrate that undergoes tyrosine phosphorylation during insulin stimulation. It contains over 20 potential tyrosine phosphorylation sites, and we suspect that multiple insulin signals are enabled when the activated insulin receptor kinase phosphorylates several of them. Tyrosine-phosphorylated IRS-1 binds specifically to various cellular proteins containing Src homology 2 (SH2) domains (SH2 proteins). We identified some of the tyrosine residues of IRS-1 that undergo insulin-stimulated phosphorylation by the purified insulin receptor and in intact cells during insulin stimulation. Automated sequencing and manual radiosequencing revealed the phosphorylation of tyrosine residues 460, 608, 628, 895, 939, 987, 1172, and 1222; additional sites remain to be identified. Immobilized SH2 domains from the 85-kDa regulatory subunit (p85 alpha) of the phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase bind preferentially to tryptic phosphopeptides containing Tyr(P)-608 and Tyr(P)-939. By contrast, the SH2 domain in GRB2 and the amino-terminal SH2 domain in SHPTP2 (Syp) specifically bind to Tyr(P)-895 and Tyr(P)-1172, respectively. These results confirm the p85 alpha recognizes YMXM motifs and suggest that GRB2 prefers a phosphorylated YVNI motif, whereas SHPTP2 (Syp) binds to a phosphorylated YIDL motif. These results extend the notion that IRS-1 is a multisite docking protein that engages various downstream regulatory elements during insulin signal transmission.

Insulin stimulates the formation of binary and ternary signaling complexes between the phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) 3'-kinase, IRS-1, and the insulin receptor in vivo. Binary complex formation between IRS-1 and the PtdIns 3'-kinase occurs in intact cells and requires the tyrosyl phosphorylation IRS-1, as mutant insulin receptors which weakly phosphorylate IRS-1 in vivo do not mediate formation of IRS-1/PtdIns 3'-kinase complexes in transfected CHO cells. Association with IRS-1 involves as much as 70% of total cellular PtdIns 3'-kinase activity. Insulin also stimulates the formation of ternary signaling complexes, as both IRS-1 and the PtdIns 3'-kinase are present in anti-insulin receptor immunoprecipitates from insulin-stimulated cells. Overexpression of IRS-1 in CHO cells increases the amount of PtdIns 3'-kinase activity in alpha IR immunoprecipitates, and IRS-1 markedly increases the in vitro binding of p85 alpha and PtdIns 3-kinase activity to anti-receptor immunoprecipitates. The mechanism for this association is unknown, but appears to involve the binding of IRS-1/PtdIns 3'-kinase complexes to the insulin receptor. The formation of binary and ternary complexes between the insulin receptor, IRS-1 and the PtdIns 3'-kinase may play a critical role in transmission of the insulin signal.

IRS-1 is a major insulin receptor substrate which may play an important role in insulin signal transmission. The mRNA for IRS-1 in rat cells and tissues is about 9.5 kilobases (kb). Rat liver IRS-1 was stably expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells (CHO/IRS-1). Although its calculated molecular mass is 131 kDa, IRS-1 from quiescent cells migrated between 165 and 170 kDa during sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. IRS-1 was phosphorylated strongly on serine residues and weakly on threonine residues before insulin stimulation. Insulin immediately stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1, and after 10-30 min with insulin its apparent molecular mass increased to 175-180 kDa. Expression of the human insulin receptor and rat IRS-1 together in CHO/IR/IRS-1 cells increased the basal serine phosphorylation of IRS-1 and strongly increased tyrosine phosphorylation during insulin stimulation. Purified insulin receptors directly phosphorylated baculovirus-produced IRS-1 exclusively on tyrosine residues. By immunofluorescence, IRS-1 was absent from the nucleus, but otherwise distributed uniformly before and after insulin stimulation. Some IRS-1 associated with the insulin receptor during insulin stimulation. In addition, a phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase associated with IRS-1 during insulin stimulation, and this association was more sensitive to insulin in CHO cells overexpressing the insulin receptor (CHO/IR cells), more responsive to insulin to CHO/IRS-1 cells, and both sensitive and responsive in CHO/IR/IRS-1 cells. Similarly, insulin-stimulated DNA synthesis was more sensitive to insulin in CHO/IR cells, and more responsive in CHO/IRS-1 cells; however, insulin-stimulated DNA synthesis was sensitive but poorly responsive to insulin in CHO/IR/IRS-1 cells. Together, these results suggest that IRS-1 is a direct physiologic substrate of the insulin receptor and may play an important role in insulin signal transmission.

Vanadate and insulin were administered to diabetic (streptozotocin) rats to compare their effects on the activity and mRNA content of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase and L-type pyruvate kinase in the liver. The activity of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase in livers of diabetic rats was about 40% of that found in normal rats. A similar decrease was found for 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase content, measured by immunoprecipitation, and for mRNA, measured by hybridization of Northern blots. Administration of vanadate to the diabetic rats led to a progressive recovery of 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase activity, and 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose- 2,6-bisphosphatase content and mRNA. This recovery, which was complete after 15 days of oral treatment, was also obtained after 60 h of insulin administration. L-type pyruvate kinase activity and mRNA were also decreased by about 70% in livers of diabetic rats. Both parameters normalized after 15 days of vanadate treatment, whereas insulin administration (60 h) raised L-pyruvate kinase mRNA three-fold above control values. Oral treatment for 15 days with vanadate can thus mimic the effect of insulin on both pyruvate kinase and 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6- bisphosphatase in livers of diabetic rats.

The presence of vanadate in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes produced a significant increase in the concentration of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and in the activity of 6-phosphofructo 2-kinase. Compared with insulin, vanadate had a more potent action on the metabolite increase, but a similar effect on the 6-phosphofructo 2-kinase activity. Both the insulin- and the vanadate-dependent enhancements of 6-phosphofructo 2-kinase were inhibited by cycloheximide which specificially blocks protein synthesis on the translational level, suggesting that the increase of the enzyme activity was due to induction rather than to a change in the catalytic activity.

Isolated vegetative tumour cells from mice bearing the Lewis lung carcinoma showed low rates of basal respiration with both low oxygen uptake rates and cytochrome-c oxidase activity. The cells were affected by a marked Crabtree effect and a high rate of lactate production in the presence of 10 mM glucose. The glycolytic capacity of the tumour was also assessed through the measurement of the maximum activities for hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase and lactate dehydrogenase. These activities were similar to the ones found in other fast-growing, undifferentiated tumours. The concentration of fructose-2,6-bisphosphate in the tumour was 2,3 nmoles/g fresh tissue wt., a value which is of the same order of magnitude as that found in other types of highly glycolytic cells. It is concluded that the Lewis lung carcinoma follows the same pattern as other undifferentiated tumours with a high capacity for both glucose and amino acid utilization.

1. The responses of the electrically-driven right ventricle strip of the guinea-pig heart to diazepam were recorded in the absence and in the presence of different selective cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors. 2. Diazepam, at concentrations ranging from 1 microM to 100 microM, was devoid of effect on the contractile force in this preparation. 3. Conversely, diazepam (5 microM-100 microM) produced a consistent positive inotropic response in the presence of a concentration (1 microM), that was without effect in the absence of diazepam, of either of the selective PDE 3 inhibitors milrinone or SKF 94120, but not in the presence of the selective PDE 4 inhibitor rolipram. 4. This effect of diazepam was not gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-dependent, since it was neither mimicked nor potentiated by GABA, and was not affected by either a high concentration (5 microM) of the antagonists of the benzodiazepine/GABA/channel chloride receptor complex, picrotoxin, flumazenil and beta-carboline-3-carboxylic acid methyl ester (betaCCMe), or by the inverse agonists, beta-carboline-3-carboxylic acid N-methylamide (betaCCMa) and methyl 6,7-dimethoxy-4-ethyl-beta-carboline-3-carboxylate (DMCM, 0.1 microM). Furthermore, a specific antagonist of the peripheral benzodiazepine receptors, PK 11195 (5 microM), did not influence the effect of diazepam. 5. Biochemical studies with isolated PDEs, confirmed that diazepam selectively inhibits type 4 PDE from guinea-pig right ventricle rather than the other PDEs present in that tissue. The compound inhibited this enzyme in a non-competitive manner. Diazepam was also able to inhibit PDE 5, the cyclic GMP specific PDE absent from cardiac muscle, with a potency close to that shown for PDE 4. 6. Diazepam displaced the selective type 4 PDE inhibitor, rolipram from its high affinity binding site in rat brain cortex membranes, and also potentiated the rise in cyclic AMP levels induced by isoprenaline in guinea-pig eosinophils, where only type 4 PDE is present. 7. The PDE inhibitory properties of diazepam were shared, although with lower potency, by other structurally-related benzodiazepines, that also displaced [3H]-rolipram from its high affinity binding site. The order of potency found for these compounds in these assays was not related to their potencies as modulators of the GABA receptor through its benzodiazepine binding site. 8. The pharmacological and biochemical data presented in this study indicate that diazepam behaves as a selective type 4 PDE inhibitor in cardiac tissue and this effect seems neither to be mediated by the benzodiazepine/GABA/channel chloride receptor complex nor by peripheral type benzodiazepine receptors.

Insulin stimulates the formation of binary and ternary signaling complexes between the phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) 3'-kinase, IRS-1, and the insulin receptor in vivo. Binary complex formation between IRS-1 and the PtdIns 3'-kinase occurs in intact cells and requires the tyrosyl phosphorylation IRS-1, as mutant insulin receptors which weakly phosphorylate IRS-1 in vivo do not mediate formation of IRS-1/PtdIns 3'-kinase complexes in transfected CHO cells. Association with IRS-1 involves as much as 70% of total cellular PtdIns 3'-kinase activity. Insulin also stimulates the formation of ternary signaling complexes, as both IRS-1 and the PtdIns 3'-kinase are present in anti-insulin receptor immunoprecipitates from insulin-stimulated cells. Overexpression of IRS-1 in CHO cells increases the amount of PtdIns 3'-kinase activity in alpha IR immunoprecipitates, and IRS-1 markedly increases the in vitro binding of p85 alpha and PtdIns 3-kinase activity to anti-receptor immunoprecipitates. The mechanism for this association is unknown, but appears to involve the binding of IRS-1/PtdIns 3'-kinase complexes to the insulin receptor. The formation of binary and ternary complexes between the insulin receptor, IRS-1 and the PtdIns 3'-kinase may play a critical role in transmission of the insulin signal.

IRS-1 is a major insulin receptor substrate which may play an important role in insulin signal transmission. The mRNA for IRS-1 in rat cells and tissues is about 9.5 kilobases (kb). Rat liver IRS-1 was stably expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells (CHO/IRS-1). Although its calculated molecular mass is 131 kDa, IRS-1 from quiescent cells migrated between 165 and 170 kDa during sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. IRS-1 was phosphorylated strongly on serine residues and weakly on threonine residues before insulin stimulation. Insulin immediately stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1, and after 10-30 min with insulin its apparent molecular mass increased to 175-180 kDa. Expression of the human insulin receptor and rat IRS-1 together in CHO/IR/IRS-1 cells increased the basal serine phosphorylation of IRS-1 and strongly increased tyrosine phosphorylation during insulin stimulation. Purified insulin receptors directly phosphorylated baculovirus-produced IRS-1 exclusively on tyrosine residues. By immunofluorescence, IRS-1 was absent from the nucleus, but otherwise distributed uniformly before and after insulin stimulation. Some IRS-1 associated with the insulin receptor during insulin stimulation. In addition, a phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase associated with IRS-1 during insulin stimulation, and this association was more sensitive to insulin in CHO cells overexpressing the insulin receptor (CHO/IR cells), more responsive to insulin to CHO/IRS-1 cells, and both sensitive and responsive in CHO/IR/IRS-1 cells. Similarly, insulin-stimulated DNA synthesis was more sensitive to insulin in CHO/IR cells, and more responsive in CHO/IRS-1 cells; however, insulin-stimulated DNA synthesis was sensitive but poorly responsive to insulin in CHO/IR/IRS-1 cells. Together, these results suggest that IRS-1 is a direct physiologic substrate of the insulin receptor and may play an important role in insulin signal transmission.

Insulin rapidly stimulates tyrosine phosphorylation of a protein of approximately 185 kD in most cell types. This protein, termed insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1), has been implicated in insulin signal transmission based on studies with insulin receptor mutants. In the present study we have examined the levels of IRS-1 and the phosphorylation state of insulin receptor and IRS-1 in liver and muscle after insulin stimulation in vivo in two rat models of insulin resistance, i.e., insulinopenic diabetes and fasting, and a mouse model of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (ob/ob) by immunoblotting with anti-peptide antibodies to IRS-1 and anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies. As previously described, there was an increase in insulin binding and a parallel increase in insulin-stimulated receptor phosphorylation in muscle of fasting and streptozotocin-induced (STZ) diabetic rats. There was also a modest increase in overall receptor phosphorylation in liver in these two models, but when normalized for the increase in binding, receptor phosphorylation was decreased, in liver and muscle of STZ diabetes and in liver of 72 h fasted rats. In the hyperinsulinemic ob/ob mouse there was a decrease in insulin binding and receptor phosphorylation in both liver and muscle. The tyrosyl phosphorylation of IRS-1 after insulin stimulation reflected an amplification of the receptor phosphorylation in liver and muscle of hypoinsulinemic animals (fasting and STZ diabetes) with a twofold increase, and showed a significant reduction (approximately 50%) in liver and muscle of ob/ob mouse. By contrast, the levels of IRS-1 protein showed a tissue specific regulation with a decreased level in muscle and an increased level in liver in hypoinsulinemic states of insulin resistance, and decreased levels in liver in the hyperinsulinemic ob/ob mouse. These data indicate that: (a) IRS-1 protein levels are differentially regulated in liver and muscle; (b) insulin levels may play a role in this differential regulation of IRS-1; (c) IRS-1 phosphorylation depends more on insulin receptor kinase activity than IRS-1 protein levels; and (d) reduced IRS-1 phosphorylation in liver and muscle may play a role in insulin-resistant states, especially of the ob/ob mice.

IRS-1 undergoes rapid tyrosine phosphorylation during insulin stimulation and forms a stable complex containing the 85 kDa subunit (p85) of the phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) 3'-kinase, but p85 is not tyrosyl phosphorylated. IRS-1 contains nine tyrosine phosphorylation sites in YXXM (Tyr-Xxx-Xxx-Met) motifs. Formation of the IRS-1-PtdIns 3'-kinase complex in vitro is inhibited by synthetic peptides containing phosphorylated YXXM motifs, suggesting that the binding of PtdIns 3'-kinase to IRS-1 is mediated through the SH2 (src homology-2) domains of p85. Furthermore, overexpression of IRS-1 potentiates the activation of PtdIns 3-kinase in insulin-stimulated cells, and tyrosyl phosphorylated IRS-1 or peptides containing phosphorylated YXXM motifs activate PtdIns 3'-kinase in vitro. We conclude that the binding of tyrosyl phosphorylated IRS-1 to the SH2 domains of p85 is the critical step that activates PtdIns 3'-kinase during insulin stimulation.

In primary culture of adult rat hepatocytes, vanadate in the presence of glucose stimulates the expression of the liver (L-type) pyruvate kinase gene. Glucose by itself was inactive, and vanadate, like insulin, was also inefficient in the absence of glucose. Similar results were obtained on glucokinase gene expression. An analogue of cAMP, 8-(4-chlorophenylthio)-cAMP, inhibited the production of L-type pyruvate kinase and glucokinase mRNAs in the presence of glucose plus vanadate.

The incubation of isolated rat hepatocytes with vanadate increased the concentration of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate without modifying 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase activity. Vanadate also reverted and prevented the decrease of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate levels, of the “active” form of the 6-phosphofructo 2-kinase and of the pyruvate kinase activity ratio produced by glucagon, by probably counteracting the increase in cyclic AMP concentration.

Mice bearing the Lewis lung carcinoma showed a high tumour glutaminase activity and significantly higher concentrations of most amino acids than in both the liver and the skeletal muscle of the host. Tumour tissue slices showed a marked preference for glutamine, especially for oxidation of its skeleton to CO2. It is proposed that the metabolism of this particular carcinoma is focused on amino acid degradation, glutamine being its preferred substrate.

Isolated hepatocytes from streptozotocin-diabetic rats failed to respond to a glucose load with an activation of glycogen synthase. This lesion was associated with severely decreased activities of glycogen-synthase phosphatase and of glucokinase. All these defects were abolished after consumption for 13-18 days of drinking water containing Na3VO4 (0.7 mg/ml), and they were partially restored after 3.5 days, when the blood glucose concentration was already normalized. In all conditions the maximal extent of activation of glycogen synthase in cells closely parallelled the activity of glycogen-synthase phosphatase.