title: Cleavage site mutants of the subtype B insulin receptor are uncleaved and fully functional.
abstract: The insulin receptor (IR) is a membrane-bound glycoprotein composed of alpha and beta subunits derived from a common precursor. This processing is observed for both subtypes A and B of the IR and its physiological importance is poorly understood. In order to investigate the functional consequences of the absence of IR precursor cleavage, using site-directed mutagenesis of the hIRB cDNA, we have produced two mutants replacing the sequence Arg-Lys-Arg-Arg by either His-Lys-His-Arg or Arg-Lys-Arg-Ser. These two mutants, stably expressed in CHO, were structurally and functionally characterized in comparison to the wild-type human IR. These mutations result in the production of uncleaved receptors which are expressed normally at the cell surface. These receptors bind insulin with a normal affinity and activate the tyrosine-kinase resulting in normal phosphorylation of the receptors. These uncleaved receptors can mediate both the metabolic and mitogenic effects of insulin. These results provide evidence for a fully functional uncleaved insulin receptor of the B subtype (exon 11 + ) in contrast to the uncleaved A subtype (exon 11 -) described in the literature, which shows a reduced affinity for insulin and cannot therefore correctly transduce the insulin signal.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U36, Collège de France, Paris.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Auzan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Debant
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Clauser
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D016466:CHO Cells; D006224:Cricetinae; D004247:DNA / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005091:Exons; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D007700:Kinetics; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D011972:Receptor, Insulin / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D004247:DNA; D011972:Receptor, Insulin