Increased phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 following microinjection of insulin receptor-kinase into Xenopus oocytes

The protein products of several transforming retroviruses as well as the receptors for several hormones and growth factors, including insulin, have been shown to possess a protein kinase activity in vitro specific for tyrosine residues in protein substrates, including themselves. In the case of pp60(src) and the insulin receptor, autophosphorylation activates the tyrosine kinase activity towards exogenous substrates. Experiments indicate that, in vivo, many of these viruses or growth factors induce an increasein the phosphorylation of serine residues on proteins, including ribosomal protein S6. It seems likely that some of the effects of insulin might be mediated by phosphorylation of intracellular substrates by its receptor. As the β subunit of the receptor is a transmembrane protein, such phosphorylation could occur either while the receptor is still in the membrane or after its internalization. In various cell systems, internalized recpeotrs are degraded, reshuttled back to the plasmalemma or maintained in a separate compartment before reinsertion in the membrane; shuttling of the insulin receptor could provide the opportunity for it to phosphorylate various intracellular components as part of its mechanism of signal transduction. To approach directly the question of whether the receptor can elicit a signal while acting at an intracellular location, we have microinjected Xenopus oocytes with the insulin receptor kinase. The results indicate that an S6 protein-serine kinase is stimulated or an S6 protein-serin phosphatase inhibited by the activity of the insulin receptor, supporting the concept that the insulin receptor acting within the cell can elicit a biological response.