Diabetes, Vol 37, Issue 11 1515-1523, Copyright © 1988 by American Diabetes Association
Clarification of signaling pathways mediated by insulin and insulin-like growth factor I receptors in fibroblasts from patients with specific defect in insulin receptor
T Sasaoka, M Kobayashi, Y Takata, O Ishibashi, M Iwasaki, Y Shigeta, K Goji and A Hisatomi
Third Department of Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science, Japan.
Receptor binding and biological action of insulin and insulin-like growth
factor I (IGF-I) were studied in fibroblasts from a patient with
leprechaunism and a patient with type A syndrome of insulin resistance.
Insulin binding was reduced to 18.8 and 27.7% of control value,
respectively. In contrast, IGF-I binding was normal in both patients. In
competitive binding studies, IGF-I had 0.2% of the ability of insulin to
compete with 125I-labeled insulin binding, and insulin had 0.1% of the
ability of IGF-I to compete with 125I-labeled IGF-I binding in control
subjects and patient fibroblasts. The dose-response curves of insulin
stimulation assessed by glucose incorporation and alpha-aminoisobutyric
acid uptake showed normal responsiveness, and ED50 was significantly
shifted to the right in fibroblasts from both patients. However, normal
responsiveness and sensitivity were observed in thymidine incorporation
studies. For IGF-I, dose-response curves of glucose incorporation,
alpha-aminoisobutyric acid uptake, and thymidine incorporation were all
normal in both patients. These results indicate that 1) the defect is
specific to the insulin-receptor binding in these patients, 2) insulin and
IGF-I activate glucose incorporation and alpha-aminoisobutyric acid uptake
mainly through their own specific receptors, but 3) the IGF-I receptor
appears to have a more important role in stimulating thymidine
incorporation than the insulin receptor in physiological condition or,
alternatively, an unknown postreceptor process with cascade signal
transmission may overcome the decreased insulin-receptor binding to produce
a normal dose-response curve.