Antibodies to deduced sequences of the insulin receptor distinguish conserved and nonconserved regions in the IGF-I receptor.

Antipeptide antibodies directed to two amino acid sequences predicted from the cDNA encoding the insulin proreceptor have been used to study the relationship between the human receptors for insulin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I). An antibody directed to a cytoplasmic domain near the membrane spanning region of the proreceptor inhibited the protein tyrosine kinase activity of both receptors whereas an antibody directed to the C terminus of the insulin receptor showed no cross-reactivity with the IGF-I receptor. The results establish that the cloned cDNA from the human placenta encodes the insulin receptor and not the closely related IGF-I receptor, that the IGF-I and insulin receptors share a specific amino acid sequence necessary for the expression of enzymatic activity, and that the C terminus of the insulin receptor is not conserved in the IGF-I receptor.

Human insulin receptor and its relationship to the tyrosine kinase family of oncogenes.

We have deduced the entire 1,370-amino-acid sequence of the human insulin receptor precursor from a single complementary DNA clone. The precursor starts with a 27-amino-acid signal sequence, followed by the receptor alpha-subunit, a precursor processing enzyme cleavage site, then the beta-subunit containing a single 23-amino-acid transmembrane sequence. There are sequence homologies to human epidermal growth factor receptor and the members of the src family of oncogene products.

Phosphorylation activates the insulin receptor tyrosine protein kinase.

Preparations of insulin receptor from cultured 3T3-L1 adipocytes and human placenta previously was found to catalyze the phosphorylation of the 90,000-dalton component of the insulin receptor on tyrosine residues. This insulin-dependent phosphorylation has now been shown to coincide with the generation of an activated, insulin-independent, receptor protein kinase. Activation is dependent upon ATP, divalent cations (Mg2+ and Mn2+), and insulin (half-maximal activation occurs at 6-8 nM insulin). The time required for activation is consistent with that needed for insulin-dependent self-phosphorylation of the receptor present in eluates from wheat germ lectin-agarose columns and in preparations of affinity-purified placental receptor. Activation proceeds unabated in the presence of soybean trypsin inhibitor at 0.1 mg/ml and the activated, insulin-independent, protein kinase sediments in 5-20% sucrose gradients at the same position as the unmodified receptor. Under steady-state conditions, the phosphorylated receptor binds insulin in the same fashion as the unmodified receptor. It is proposed that the self-phosphorylated form of the receptor is the insulin-activated protein kinase that catalyzes the phosphorylation of exogenous protein and peptide substrates. A corollary of this hypothesis is that enzymatic dephosphorylation may be essential for reversibly terminating the activity of the insulin-receptor protein kinase.

Insulin activates a tyrosine-specific protein kinase in extracts of 3T3-L1 adipocytes and human placenta.

Insulin activates a tyrosine-specific cAMP-independent protein kinase when added directly to detergent extracts of differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes and humal placental membranes. The kinase is also activated by antibody to the insulin receptor and, to a lesser extent, by proinsulin. It catalyzes the phosphorylation of the 92,000-dalton component of the insulin receptor, histone, and casein; in each case, tyrosine is the principal amino acid modified. Under the conditions used to activate the kinase, insulin does not affect the rate of dephosphorylation of the receptor or of histone. The insulin-activated kinase is copurified with the human placental insulin receptor until the final elution from insulin-Sepharose. It remains to be established whether the kinase and the insulin receptor are separate molecules.