Insulin receptor: its subunit structure as determined by photoaffinity labeling

This communication reviews briefly the preparation of two photoreactive arylazido insulins and the use of these insulin derivatives to photolabel the insulin receptor of rat adipocytes. These experiments showed that the receptor contains disulfide linked subunits of 130,000, 90,000, and 40,000 daltons. When not reduced by dithiothreitol, three receptor species of 380,000, 300,000, and 230,000 daltons were detected. Based on the results of photolabeling we propose that the 300,000-dalton species is composed of one 130,000-, one 90,000-, and two 40,000-dalton subunits in disulfide linkages.