Synthesis of conjugates for a barbiturate screening assay.

Novel derivatives of barbiturates functionalized with free carboxylic acids were designed and synthesized. Coupling of 5-cyclopentyl-5-carboxycrotylbarbituric acid via its active ester to an aminofluorescein derivative produced a fluorescent tracer. Conjugation of the 5-cyclopentenyl-5-carboxyethylbarbituric acid via its mixed anhydride to thyroglobulin allowed for subsequent development of a polyclonal antibody which was evaluated for binding in a fluorescence polarization immunoassay format with various barbiturates. The binding studies showed good cross-reactivity of a variety of barbiturates containing both aromatic and aliphatic 5-substituents with the tested antisera. The relationship between the immunogen architecture, the chemical structure of the binding analytes, and the characteristics of the antisera is also presented.

Characterization of skeletal muscle insulin receptor.

The insulin receptor from rat skeletal muscle was characterized. Treatment of muscle membranes with the photoactive insulin analog, 125I[N-epsilonB29-monoazidobenzoyl]-insulin revealed a single protein band of 135,000 Da, the alpha subunit. Iodination of total membrane protein followed by Triton X-100 solubilization and immunoprecipitation demonstrated the presence of a protein band of 90,000 Da, the beta subunit, together with a protein band of 190,000 Da, which may be the receptor precursor. In partially purified receptor preparations, the beta subunit exhibited dose-dependent, insulin-stimulated phosphorylation with incorporation of phosphate solely into tyrosine residues, which was also observed in the 190,000-Da receptor precursor. Purified plasma membranes contained a large amount of insulin-degrading activity which had to be inactivated prior to performing insulin-binding studies. If degradation of insulin was not prevented, apparent enhanced binding in the presence of unlabeled insulin was observed.

A novel mechanism for the insulin-like effect of vanadate on glycogen synthase in rat adipocytes.

Vanadate activated rat adipocyte glycogen synthase similarly to insulin in a dose- and time-dependent manner. No additional effect was observed when insulin and vanadate were added together. Vanadate also partially counteracted the effect of epinephrine to activate rat adipocyte glycogen phosphorylase similarly to insulin. Inhibition of Na+K+ATPase or stimulation of hydrogen peroxide generation were shown not to be the mechanisms of the insulin-like action of vanadate on glycogen synthase. Vanadate stimulated the phosphorylation of the 95,000-dalton subunit of the insulin receptor on tyrosine residues both in intact adipocytes and in a solubilized insulin receptor fraction. Vanadate also stimulated the phosphorylation of the 95,000-dalton subunit of a highly purified insulin receptor from human placenta. Neither the insulin receptor fraction from rat adipocyte nor the highly purified insulin receptor from human placenta contained any detectable phosphotyrosine phosphatase activity. Potassium fluoride had no stimulatory effect on the phosphorylation of the insulin receptor. Vanadate caused a 10-fold decrease in the Km for ATP, for tyrosine kinase, and enhanced the phosphorylation of histone H2B. These results demonstrate that vanadate enhances the phosphorylation of the insulin receptor by stimulating the kinase reaction in a similar but not identical manner to insulin.

Selective inhibition of the insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of the 95,000 dalton subunit of the insulin receptor by TAME or BAEE.

Added N alpha-p-tosyl-l-arginine methyl ester or N alpha-benzoyl-l-arginine ethyl ester inhibited the stimulation by insulin of phosphorylation of the 95,000 dalton subunit of the insulin receptor both in a partially purified insulin receptor fraction from rat adipocytes and in a highly purified insulin receptor preparation from human placenta. N-alpha-p-tosyl-l-lysine chloromethyl ketone, N alpha-p-tosyl-l-lysine methyl ester, or N-acetyl-l-phenylalanine ethyl ester were much less potent, while N-benzoyl-1-alanine methyl ester was without effect. Inhibition of the phosphorylation by the arginine analogues did not require preincubation of the insulin receptor with inhibitors in the presence of insulin prior to phosphorylation. Inhibition by N alpha-p-tosyl-l-arginine methyl ester was decreased by preincubation of the receptor fraction with cold ATP and MnCl2. These results suggest that N alpha-p-tosyl-l-arginine methyl ester inhibits an initial ATP and Mn2+ dependent reaction in insulin-stimulated phosphorylation process.

Insulin-like effect of vanadate on adipocyte glycogen synthase and on phosphorylation of 95,000 dalton subunit of insulin receptor.

Vanadate enhanced the state of activation of rat adipocyte glycogen synthase in a manner similar to that of insulin. No additional effect was observed when insulin and vanadate were added together. The effect of vanadate, like insulin, was reversed by incubation with epinephrine. Vanadate also enhanced the degree of phosphorylation of the 95,000 dalton subunit of insulin receptor, selectively on tyrosine residues, in the solubilized rat adipocyte insulin receptor system. This demonstrates that insulin and vanadate have similar initial actions on receptor phosphorylation and also act similarly on an intracellular event, namely the activation of glycogen synthase.

Stimulation of maximal intracellular insulin action on glycogen synthase by preincubation of adipocytes with adenosine 5'-triphosphate.

Preincubation of rat adipocytes with ATP further stimulated maximal insulin action on glycogen synthase. Half-maximum concentration of ATP was 5 X 10(-5) M. ATP, ADP, adenosine, inosine, and GTP were effective, while beta-gamma-methylene ATP was without effect. ADP and GTP were less potent than ATP, adenosine, or inosine. Inosine was active without insulin but was without effect in the presence of insulin. The mechanism of action of adenosine was clearly different from ATP. While ATP required both Mg2+ and Ca2+ for effectiveness, adenosine required only Ca2+. The effect of ATP, but not of adenosine, was preserved after cells were washed. The adenosine effect was completely blocked by theophylline, but the ATP effect was inhibited only 40%. The ATP effect was thus not due to adenosine generated by ATP breakdown.

A proteolytic mechanism for the action of insulin via oligopeptide mediator formation.

Evidence is presented that the chemical mediator of insulin action is a peptide(s) and most likely glycopeptide(s). The mediator is formed proteolytically because 1) protease inhibitors inhibit insulin action and 2) trypsin mimicks insulin action via mediator formation. Trypsin mediator does not faithfully reproduce the action of insulin mediator, which indicates that the sites of proteolytic cleavage by insulin and trypsin differ. A coordinated multivalent proteolytic mechanism by which insulin acts to trigger an external membrane-bound protease to cleave mediator from a membrane glycoprotein precursor is presented.

Simultaneous inactivation of the catalytic activities of yeast glutathione reductase by N-alkylmaleimides.

A series of straight chain N-alkymaleimides was shown to simultaneously inactivate the reductase, transhydrogenase and diaphorase activities of yeast glutathione reductase (NAD(P)H: oxidized-glutathione oxidoreductase, EC 1.6.4.2.) at pH 7.5 and 25 degrees C. Apparent second-order rate constants for the inactivation of all enzyme activities exhibited parallel increases with increasing chainlength from C-2 through C-7 of the alkyl substituent of the enhanced binding of maleimides through nonpolar interactions with the enzyme. Reduction of the active site disulfide with NADPH was required prior to addition of maleimide for inactivation to occur. NADP, AcPyADP, SNADP, AADP, and oxidized glutathione all protected the enzyme from inactivation. 2'AMP, 3' AMP, 2'-phospho-5' AMP, 2'-phospho5'-ADP and 2'-phospho-ADP-ribose although all coenzyme-competitive inhibitors failed to protect the enzyme from N-ethylmaleimide inactivation. N-Phenyl and N-alkylmaleimides covalently modified two, of six available sulfhydryl groups per subunit. No other amino acid residues were modified. The reactivity of these sulfhydryl groups was at least two orders of magnitude higher than any reported for the N-ethylmaleimide reaction with many other 'essential sulfhydryl' enzymes. No change in the charge transfer band of the reduced enzyme was observed upon complete inactivation by N-ethyl, N-heptyl or N-phenylmaleimide. The retention of the charge transfer band after selective modification of two sulfhydryl groups suggests the involvement of a third reactive sulfhydryl group in the functioning of the yeast enzyme. No inactivation was observed when coenzymatically reduced enzyme was incubated with the site-specific sulfhydryl reagent, diazotized AADP.