Engineering of insulin receptor isoform-selective insulin analogues

Background

The insulin receptor (IR) exists in two isoforms, A and B, and the isoform expression pattern is tissue-specific. The C-terminus of the insulin B chain is important for receptor binding and has been shown to contact the IR just adjacent to the region where the A and B isoforms differ. The aim of this study was to investigate the importance of the C-terminus of the B chain in IR isoform binding in order to explore the possibility of engineering tissue-specific/liver-specific insulin analogues.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Insulin analogue libraries were constructed by total amino acid scanning mutagenesis. The relative binding affinities for the A and B isoform of the IR were determined by competition assays using scintillation proximity assay technology. Structural information was obtained by X-ray crystallography. Introduction of B25A or B25N mutations resulted in analogues with a 2-fold preference for the B compared to the A isoform, whereas the opposite was observed with a B25Y substitution. An acidic amino acid residue at position B27 caused an additional 2-fold selective increase in affinity for the receptor B isoform for analogues bearing a B25N mutation. Furthermore, the combination of B25H with either B27D or B27E also resulted in B isoform-preferential analogues (2-fold preference) even though the corresponding single mutation analogues displayed no differences in relative isoform binding affinity.

Conclusions/Significance

We have discovered a new class of IR isoform-selective insulin analogues with 2–4-fold differences in relative binding affinities for either the A or the B isoform of the IR compared to human insulin. Our results demonstrate that a mutation at position B25 alone or in combination with a mutation at position B27 in the insulin molecule confers IR isoform selectivity. Isoform-preferential analogues may provide new opportunities for developing insulin analogues with improved clinical benefits.     

Regulation of insulin receptor kinase activity by insulin mimickers and an insulin antagonist

Three agents which mimic insulin action in intact cells (concanavalin A, wheat germ agglutinin, and polyclonal insulin receptor antibody), mimicked insulin's ability to stimulate the kinase activity of purified insulin receptors. In contrast, monoclonal insulin receptor antibody, an antagonist of insulin action, did not stimulate the phosphorylation of the insulin receptor either in intact IM-9 cells or in purified receptor preparations. This antibody, however, antagonized the ability of insulin to stimulate the phosphorylation of the receptor both in intact cells and in the purified receptor. These studies with insulin mimickers and an insulin antagonist are consistent with a role for the kinase activity of the receptor mediating the actions of insulin.     

The dissociation of insulin from human insulin antibodies

The dissociation of insulin from human insulin antibodies has been investigated using a technique that is rapid and does not require addition of excess unlabelled insulin. A slow (k₁ = 2·1^?3 min^?1 and a fast (k₂ = 4·10^?2 min^?1) dissociating antibody component were identified in all studies. These have been shown to correspond, respectively, to the high and low affinity antibody components of equilibrium binding studies. The range of k₁ and k₂ values and their response to temperature change is small. Insulin resistance and stability of diabetes are not related to properties of antibody dissociation. Dissociation is faster in the presence of high (6–850 nM) insulin concentration due to increased binding to the fast dissociating component without change in the dissociation rate constants. When incubation time is increased beyond achivement of maximal binding there is a time-dependent rise in binding to the slow dissociating component, with a concomitant fall in k₁. The traditional concept that equilibrium is established at maximum binding requires further examination.     

Relation of insulin receptors to insulin resistance.

The status of insulin-receptor interactions in a variety of insulin-resistant states is reviewed. Utilizing large adipocytes from adult rats and small fat cells from young rats, we have conducted a series of in vitro experiments in an attempt to determine the cellular alteration(s) responsible for the insulin resistance associated with obesity. Stimulation of glucose oxidation by insulin is reduced in large cells. Studies using a mimicker of insulin action, spermine, as well as measurements of 125I-insulin binding to large and small cells indicate that receptor number and affinity are not responsible for hormone resistance. Furthermore, when rapid and direct measurements of sugar uptake were made, insulin stimulation was virtually identical in both cell types. These findings indicate that large adipocytes have an efficient insulin-responsive D-glucose transport system and suggest that the apparent hormone resistance may be due to alterations in intracellular glucose metabolism. It has been proposed that altered insulin-receptor interaction underlies the insulin resistance of human obesity. We have investigated this particular aspect of insulin action by 125I-insulin binding studies. Similar numbers of insulin receptors per cell and affinity for insulin were observed in adipocytes obtained from normal weight subjects and morbidly obese patients. Thus, the initial step in insulin action is unaltered in human obesity.     

Hybridization of non-sulfonylurea insulin secretagogue and thiazolidinedione-derived insulin sensitizer

Hybrid compounds of non-sulfonylurea insulinotropic agents and thiazolidinedione-derived insulin-sensitizing agents were designed and synthesized. The benzylidenesuccinic acid derivative 24 was equal both to nateglinide in potency of insulin-releasing activity and to pioglitazone in insulin-sensitizing activity.     

Insulin and insulin mixtures; nph insulin

There are several distinct types of commercial insulins available, and with combinations of these many curves of timing of insulin action may be obtained, but none can parallel the action of a normal pancreas.NPH insulin, the newest addition, has a wide range of usefulness and may supplant many of the other types and combinations.     

Down-regulation of insulin receptors is related to insulin internalization

In the present study, we have tested the influence of inhibition of endocytosis by hypertonic medium on the regulation of cell surface insulin receptors. We show that active internalization of 125I-insulin is markedly inhibited by hypertonic media and that, in parallel, cell surface invaginations are significantly diminished. These two events are accompanied by a marked inhibition of cell surface insulin receptor down-regulation. These data provide further strong evidence that receptor-mediated endocytosis is the major mechanism by which insulin receptors are regulated at the surface of target cells.     

Identification of insulin intermediates and sites of cleavage of native insulin by insulin protease from human fibroblasts

We have studied the time sequence degradation of native insulin by insulin protease from human fibroblast using multiple steps involving purification of the products by high performance liquid chromatography, determination of peak composition by amino acid sequence analysis, and confirmation of structure by mass spectrometry and thus elucidated the sites of cleavage of insulin by human insulin protease. We observed that as early as 0.5 min of incubation, three major new peptide peaks, intact insulin, and four smaller peptide peaks can be detected. The major peptides are portions of the insulin molecule, with the amino ends of the A and B chains or the carboxyl ends of the A and B chains still connected by disulfide bonds. Peptide peak I is A1-13-B1-9. Peptide peak II is A1-14-B1-9. Peptide peak III is A14-21-B14-30. The smaller peptide peaks are A14-21-B17-30, A15-21-B14-30, A15-21-B10-30, and A14-21-B10-30. The major peptide bond cleavage sites therefore consist of A13-14, A14-15, B9-10, B13-14, and B10-17. With longer incubation times, peptide peak II appears to lose the A14 tyrosine to form peptide peak I. This peptide I, which is the amino end of the A and B chains, is not further degraded even after 1.5 h of incubation. With longer incubation times, the peptides containing the carboxyl ends of the A and B chains are further degraded to form products from cleavage at the A18-19, B14-15, B25-26, and a small amount of A19-20, B10-11, and B24-25 cleavage and the emergence of 2-5-amino acid peptide chains, tyrosine, alanine, histidine, and leucine-tyrosine. We conclude, based on the three-dimensional structure of insulin, that human insulin protease recognizes the alpha-helical regions around leucine-tyrosine bonds and that final degradation steps to small peptides do not require lysosomal involvement.     

Recovery of maximal insulin responsiveness and insulin sensitivity after induction of insulin resistance in primary cultured adipocytes

Treatment of primary cultured adipocytes with 50 ng/ml insulin and 20 mM glucose for 0-6 h resulted in a loss of maximal insulin responsiveness (MIR) which was immediate (no lag period), rapid (t1/2 of 3 h), linear, and extensive (80% of that seen at 24 h), whereas loss of insulin sensitivity from 0-24 h was slow (t1/2 = 8 h), extensive (insulin ED50 of 0.3 and 1.45 ng/ml at 2 and 24 h, respectively), and was preceded by an initial 2-h lag. Recovery of MIR and insulin sensitivity was assessed by inducing desensitization for various times from 2-24 h, removing insulin and glucose, and then measuring MIR and insulin sensitivity over a subsequent 1-6-h period. After 2 h, recovery of MIR in desensitized cells was rapid (251 pmol of glucose/3 min/h), whereas after 24 h, recovery was much slower (35 pmol/3 min/h). In contrast, the opposite trend was seen for recovery of insulin sensitivity: at early times recovery of insulin sensitivity was slow (0.05 ng/ml/h) but was rapid after 24 h (0.12 ng/ml/h). Thus, it appears that MIR and insulin sensitivity can be independently regulated since recovery rates for MIR and insulin sensitivity diverged with the progression of insulin resistance. When the effects of insulin and glucose on recovery were examined, we found that insulin alone was unable to block recovery of MIR or insulin sensitivity. Glucose alone, however, was effective in preventing recovery of insulin sensitivity but not recovery of MIR. In the presence of 20 mM glucose, low doses of insulin (treatment EC50 = 0.22-0.46 ng/ml) effectively prevented recovery of both MIR and insulin sensitivity. De novo protein synthesis apparently is not involved in the development of insulin resistance or the reversal of desensitization since inhibition of protein synthesis by cycloheximide had no effect on the loss of MIR and insulin sensitivity or recovery.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Acetoacetylation of insulin

Insulin was treated with diketen at pH6.9. The reaction mixture was resolved into four components by DEAE-Sephadex chromatography. The first component was unchanged insulin. The second and third components were shown by end-group analysis to be substituted on phenylalanine B-1 and glycine A-1 respectively. The fourth component was disubstituted on both phenylalanine B-1 and glycine A-1. The in-amino group of lysine B-29 was not involved in the reaction at low reagent concentrations. The purity of these derivatives was checked by their electrophoretic behaviour and by measurement of the rate of their reaction with trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid. The hormonal activity of the derivatives was determined. The effect of the modifications on the hormonal activity and the tertiary structure of insulin is discussed.     

Alteration of intramolecular disulfides in insulin receptor/kinase by insulin and dithiothreitol: insulin potentiates the apparent dithiothreitol-dependent subunit reduction of insulin receptor

Dithiothreitol (DTT) was observed to increase both beta-subunit autophosphorylation and exogenous substrate phosphorylation of the insulin receptor in the absence of insulin. The natural protein reducing agent thioredoxin was also observed to increase the insulin receptor beta-subunit autophosphorylation. The activation of the insulin receptor/kinase by both DTT and thioredoxin was found to be additive with that of insulin. Further, the increase in the insulin receptor beta-subunit autophosphorylation in the presence of DTT and insulin was demonstrated to be due to an increase in the initial rate of autophosphorylation without alteration in the extent of phosphorylation. Similarly, the increase in the exogenous substrate phosphorylation was due to an increase in the Vmax of phosphorylation without significant effect on the apparent Km of substrate binding. In the presence of relatively low concentrations of DTT, insulin was found to potentiate the apparent insulin receptor subunit reduction of the native alpha 2 beta 2 heterotetrameric complex into alpha beta heterodimers, when observed by silver staining of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. N-[3H]Ethylmaleimide ([3H]NEM) labeling in the absence of DTT pretreatment demonstrated that only the beta subunit had accessible sulfhydryl group(s). However, treatment of insulin receptors with DTT increased the amount of [3H]NEM labeling in the beta subunit as well as exposing sites on the alpha subunit. Further, incubation of the insulin receptors with the combination of DTT and insulin also demonstrated the apparent insulin-potentiated subunit reduction without any increase in the total amount of [3H]NEM labeling.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry of insulin, insulin A-chain, insulin B-chain, and glucagon

Fast atom bombardment mass spectral data are presented for the polypeptides insulin, oxidized insulin A-chain, carboxymethylated insulin B-chain, and glucagon. The doubly-charged molecular ion of the intact insulin molecule produced with fast atom bombardment with xenon atoms is observed at a reduced accelerating voltage (4 kV).     

Pattern of insulin delivery affects hepatic insulin sensitizing substance (HISS) action and insulin resistance

Hepatic insulin sensitizing substance (HISS) action accounts for 55% of the glucose disposal effect of a bolus of insulin in the fed state. To determine the effect of continuous versus pulsatile insulin delivery on HISS action in male Sprague-Dawley rats, insulin sensitivity was assessed using the rapid insulin sensitivity test (RIST) before and after a continuous, pulsatile, or bolus insulin (60 mU/kg i.v.) delivery. There was a significant difference in the RIST index after a continuous insulin infusion (247.9 mg/kg before, 73.2 mg/kg after) but not after 3 pulses where insulin action returned to baseline between pulses (211.6 mg/kg before, 191.0 mg/kg after) or single bolus (205.8 mg/kg before, 189.9 mg/kg after) insulin infusion. If a 3-pulse infusion was timed so that insulin action did not return to baseline between pulses, HISS action was suppressed. Continuous insulin infusion (10-30 min) showed progressive postinfusion blockade of HISS action. To maintain HISS-dependent insulin action, continuous insulin infusions should be avoided.     

Human insulin receptor juxtamembrane domain independent insulin signaling

The exon 16-encoded juxtamembrane (JM) domain of human insulin receptor (hIR) harbors the NPEY motif which couples the insulin-activated hIR kinase to downstream signal transduction molecules. We sought to determine if signal transduction requires the entire exon 16-encoded 22-amino acid JM domain. Transfected CHO cells were generated stably expressing either the wild-type hIR (hIR-WT) or two mutant hIRs (hIRDeltaEx16 in which the JM domain was deleted, and hIRrosJM in which the deleted segment was replaced by the corresponding domain of v-ros protein). The mutant hIRDeltaEx16 and hIRrosJM exhibited similar insulin-binding as the hIRWT. Insulin internalization and insulin dose-response experiments toward activation of downstream signal transduction molecules demonstrated that: i) the presence of intact hIR-JM domain which harbors the NPEY motif is essential for Shc phosphorylation but not for IRS-1 phosphorylation; ii) insulin signal transduction can occur independent of the JM domain of hIR and without participation of the NPEY motif; iii) engagement of this putative alternative downstream signal transduction is Shc independent and is dependent on insulin concentration; and iv) insulin internalization does not necessarily require the hIR specific aa sequence of the JM domain which can be partially substituted by the JM domain of the v-ros tyrosine kinase.