title: Differential signaling activation by insulin and insulin-like growth factors I and II upon binding to insulin receptor isoform A.
abstract: A variety of human malignancies overexpresses isoform A of the insulin receptor (IR-A) and produces IGFs (IGF-I and/or IGF-II). IR-A binds IGF-II with high affinity (although 4-fold lower than that for insulin), whereas it binds IGF-I with low affinity (approximately 30-fold lower than that for insulin). However, in engineered cells expressing only the IR-A, but not IGF-I receptor (R(-)/IR-A cells), IGF-II is a more potent mitogen than insulin. Herein, we investigated downstream signaling of IGF-II, IGF-I, and insulin in R(-)/IR-A cells to better understand their role in cell growth. We found that despite inducing a lower IR-A autophosphorylation than insulin, IGF-II was more potent than insulin for activating p70S6 kinase (p70S6K) and approximately equally potent in activating the early peaks of ERK1/2 and Akt. However, ERK1/2 activation persisted longer after IGF-II, whereas Akt activation persisted longer after insulin. Therefore, cells stimulated with IGF-II had a higher p70S6K/Akt activation ratio than cells stimulated with insulin. Remarkably, IGF-I also elicited a similar signaling pattern as IGF-II, despite inducing minimal IR-A autophosphorylation. ERK1/2 and protein kinase C seem to be involved in the preferential stimulation of p70S6K by IGFs. In conclusion, our study has identified a novel complex role of IR-A, which not only elicits a unique signaling pattern after IGF-II binding but also induces substantial downstream signaling upon binding to the low-affinity ligand IGF-I. These results underline the role of IR-A in physiology and disease.
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology Unit, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sacco
authors.forename: Alaide
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morcavallo
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pandini
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vigneri
authors.forename: Antonino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Belfiore
mesh_terms: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D002460:Cell Line; D039642:Eukaryotic Initiation Factors; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 / Q000378:metabolism; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000378:metabolism; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism; D011972:Receptor, Insulin / Q000378:metabolism*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D038762:Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases, 70-kDa / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; C499527:Eif4ebp1 protein, mouse; D039642:Eukaryotic Initiation Factors; D007004:Hypoglycemic Agents; D007328:Insulin; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D020033:Protein Isoforms; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II; D011972:Receptor, Insulin; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D038762:Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases, 70-kDa; D011493:Protein Kinase C; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; D048051:p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases