Lysosomal proteolysis: effects of aging and insulin

Age-related characteristics of the effect of insulin on the activity of lysosomal proteolytic enzymes were studied. The relationship between the insulin effect on protein degradation and insulin degradation was analyzed. The effect of insulin on the activities of lysosomal enzymes was opposite in young and old rats (inhibitory in 3-month-old and stimulatory in 24-month-old animals). The activities of proteolytic enzymes were regulated by insulin in a glucose-independent manner: similar hypoglycemic effects of insulin in animals of different ages were accompanied by opposite changes in the activities of lysosomal enzymes. The inhibition of lysosomal enzymes by insulin in 3-month-old rats is consistent with a notion on the inhibitory effect of insulin on protein degradation. An opposite insulin effect in 24-month-old rats (i.e., stimulation of proteolytic activity by insulin) may be partly associated with attenuation of the degradation of insulin, resulting in disturbances in signaling that mediates the regulatory effects of insulin on protein degradation.