Frederick G. Hamel

Degradation of Intraendosomal Insulin by Insulin-Degrading Enzyme Without Acidification

The nature of insulin degradation within endosomes was studied in vitro. Radiolabeled insulin was perfused into rat liver via the portal vein, and insulin-containing endosomes were prepared by differential centrifugation. The endosomes were incubated in various buffers, and hormone degradation was monitored by Sephadex G-50 chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Endosomes incubated in simple imidazole or HEPES (pH 7.4) buffers rapidly degraded insulin to intermediate- and then to low-molecular-weight products that were lost from the vesicles. HPLC analysis of insulin-sized material showed the products to be the same as those produced by intact cells. The endosomes did not acidify in these buffers (as assessed by the acridine orange method), and ATP had no effects. When the endosomes were incubated in a chloride-containing buffer, degradation was greatly inhibited, and acidification did not occur. Both insulin degradation and acidification were activated when Mg-ATP was added to this buffer system. HPLC analysis of the products generated in this system revealed not only typical cellular products but additional less hydrophobic products. Western-blot analysis of endosomal protein with anti-insulin-degrading enzyme antibody showed this enzyme to be present. In conclusion, isolated endosomes rapidly and completely degrade insulin through products that are typical of cellular degradation without requiring acidification. Chloride-containing buffers inhibit endosomal degradation, which is reversed by Mg-ATP, but this system does not mimic cellular degradation. At least one of the enzymes responsible for insulin degradation is insulin-degrading enzyme.

Changes in renal phospholipid fatty acids in diabetes mellitus: Correlation with changes in adenylate cyclase activity

Male Sprague-Dawley rats made diabetic with alloxan (37.5 mg/kg) or streptozotocin (65 mg/kg) were killed after 3–6 weeks of disease; renal tissues were studied for phospholipid content and for fatty acid composition of the phospholipids. No consistent change was noted in total phospholipid content nor in the proportion of various phospholipids in diabetics. However, diabetic animals showed a consistent reduction of arachidonic acid content in phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidylethanolamine in whole renal cortex, plasma membranes purified from renal cortex, and in isolated glomeruli. Associated with the fall in arachidonic acid was a rise in linoleic acid in the samples studied. Insulin therapy returned the fatty acid profiles to normal. These results are similar to patterns observed in other diabetic tissues and suggest that diabetes is associated with generalized changes in cell membranes. That these structural changes may have functional significance is suggested by demonstrated alterations in the temperature-dependence of adenylate cyclase in renal plasma membranes of diabetic animals. Adenylate cyclase is thought to be intimately associated with PC in plasma membranes, a phospholipid showing significant changes in fatty acid content in diabetes (unsaturation index 165±2 for normals, 147±5 for diabetics). Na+,K au+-ATPase which is thought to be primarily associated in vivo with phosphatidylinositol (PI), shows no change in apparent energy of activation in diabetes. The fatty acid content of PI is minimally altered in diabetes, and the unsaturation index is unchanged.

HPLC Analysis of Insulin Degradation Products From Isolated Hepatocytes: Effects of Inhibitors Suggest Intracellular and Extracellular Pathways

Isolated rat hepatocytes were incubated with A14-[125I]monoiodotyrosyl insulin for 30 min, and labeled material was extracted from the cells and incubation media. The medium and the cell extract were chromatographed on a Sephadex G-50 column, and radioactivity eluting in the position of intact insulin was concentrated and analyzed on HPLC. The HPLC analysis of the cell extract showed two major products eluting from the column at 19 and 23 min, whereas medium extracts showed one prominent product eluting at 14 min. Inclusion of chloroquine in the incubation blocked the formation of cellular products at 19 and 23 min and caused the accumulation of a product eluting at 41 min while not affecting the media products. After sulfitolysis all cellular products contained an intact A-chain. Dansylcadaverine increased media products and altered the cellextracted product pattern such that it had a major peak at 14 min, similar to media. These results suggest that two pathways for insulin degradation exist within hepatocytes. The extracellular process forms products that are essentially unchanged by chloroquine and dansylcadaverine. The intracellular process is altered by chloroquine and apparently inhibited by dansylcadaverine.

Identification of the metal associated with the insulin degrading enzyme

Insulin degrading enzyme (IDE) is a thiol-dependent metalloendoprotease that is responsible for initiation of cellular insulin degradation. However, its exact mode of action and the factors controlling it are poorly understood. Since IDE is a metal requiring enzyme, we have examined which metal(s) is(are) endogenously associated with it. Using neutron activation analysis, we studied the metal content of a partially purified enzyme from three different tissues: rat skeletal muscle, rat liver, and human placenta. Our results indicate that zinc and manganese are associated with the enzyme with approximately 10 times more zinc as manganese being present. These results suggest that one or both of these two metals are endogenously associated with this enzyme and are a means of controlling the enzymes activity.

Evidence that bacitracin alters intracellular insulin metabolism in isolated rat hepatocytes.

The effect of bacitracin on intracellular insulin degradation was investigated using an isolated rat hepatocyte preparation In which essentially all insulin degradation was due to cell-mediated processes. Bacitracin produced a concentration-dependent decrease in the degradation of insulin to products soluble in trichloroacetic acid, with a half-maximal effect at approximately 0.5 mM. These results were confirmed by analysis of extracted cell-bound radioactivity by Sephadex G-50 molecular sieve chromatography. Radioactive material eluting in the position of intact insulin from the G-50 column was further analyzed by reversed-phase, highperformance liquid chromatography. In addition to intact insulin, two peaks of radioactive material less hydrophobic than insulin were evident. Incubation of cells in the presence of 0.5 mM bacitracin significantly (P < 0.05) altered the distribution of radioactivity in these two peaks. These results indicate that bacitracin significantly affects hepatocyte insulin metabolism and suggest that the continued use of bacitracin in studies of hepatocyte-insulin interaction should be avoided.

Identification of A chain cleavage sites in intact insulin produced by insulin protease and isolated hepatocytes

The degradation of insulin by the enzyme insulin protease and by isolated hepatocytes results in proteolytic cleavages in both the A and B chains of intact insulin. Previous studies have shown that one of the A chain cleavages is between A13 leucine and A14 tyrosine and that a second cleavage occurs carboxyl to the A14 residue. In the present study we have used insulin specifically iodinated on the A19 tyrosine and examined the A chain cleavages by the enzyme and by hepatocytes. Insulin degradation products were purified by HPLC and sequenced by automated Edman degradation. Only two A chain cleavage sites were identified, one the previously reported A13-A14 and the other between A14 tyrosine and A15 glutamine. These data thus identify the second A chain cleavage site and further support the role of insulin protease in hepatic metabolism of insulin.

Alteration of tissue vanadium content in diabetes

A great deal of interest in the element vanadium has been generated recently because of its potential as a therapeutic agent for diabetes mellitus. Vanadiums insulin-mimetic properties and its requirement for proper growth and development suggest that it may be involved in insulins mechanism of action. We have therefore examined vanadium levels in kidney, muscle, and liver tissues from normal and diabetic BB Wistar rats. Our results indicate that diabetes mellitus can decrease the tissue vanadium content of liver, suggesting that the trace element vanadium may be important in insulin action.

Effect of gentamicin treatment on adenylate cyclase and Na+,K+-ATPase activities in renal tissues of rats

Gentamicin (20 mg/kg) treatment of male rats reduced Na+,K+-ATPase activity by 32% in renal cortical plasma membranes. In contrast, adenylate cyclase stimulation by isoproterenol or a guanyl nucleotide or both was enhanced by as much as twofold in glomeruli and in plasma membranes of gentamicin-treated rats. These effects of gentamicin are suggested to be related to the changes in renal phospholipid metabolism produced by the drug.

Solubilization of hormone-responsive adenylate cyclase from human renal cortex

Abstract Adenylate cyclase activity from human renal cortical plasma membranes remained in the 100,000 xg supernatant (2 hrs) following treatment with 0.25% Lubrol PX in 10mM Tris buffer (pH 7.45), 1 mM EDTA, 0.25 M sucrose, and 5 mM NaF. Solubilization decreased total adenylate cyclase activity by at least one-half; responsiveness to calcitonin, glucagon and guanyl nucleotides, but not to parathyroid hormone, was preserved. Glucagon and calcitonin-stimulated adenylate cyclase eluted near the void volume on Sephadex G200 columns; two other peaks of non-hormone stimulated activity eluted later.