The insulin resistance seen in diabetes mellitus has been attributed partly to impaired autophosphorylation of the insulin receptor. It has been suggested that the phosphorylation of serine and/or threonine residues of the insulin receptor may reduce tyrosine autophosphorylation in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats (STZ-D rats). To elucidate the mechanisms of decreased autophosphorylation of the insulin receptor in diabetic rats, we have investigated the effect of dephosphorylation of the insulin receptor by alkaline phosphatase on the insulin- and protein kinase-stimulating incorporation of 32P into the receptor of the liver from STZ-D rats. Both basal and insulin-stimulated autophosphorylations of the insulin receptor from STZ-D rats were significantly impaired to those from normal rats. Dephosphorylation of the insulin receptor by alkaline phosphatase resulted in an increase in insulin-stimulated autophosphorylation of the insulin receptor from STZ-D rats (43 +/- 13% to 66 +/- 14%, P less than 0.05), but not from normal rats (100% to 109 +/- 12%, NS). Although maximal autophosphorylation of the dephosphorylated insulin receptor was still lower in STZ-D rats than in normal rats, the increase in insulin-stimulated autophosphorylation of the insulin receptor from STZ-D rats by dephosphorylation was higher than that from normal (159.2 +/- 27.2% vs 108.0 +/- 12.4%, p less than 0.01), supporting the idea that the residues of the insulin receptor of STZ-D rats was highly phosphorylated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Alkaline Phosphatase Animals