Disappearance of insulin response after enzymatic treatment of sodium-transporting amphibian epithelia.

Amphibian epithelia specialized in trans-cellular sodium transport lose their capacity to react to insulin by a stimulation of this process upon treatment with collagenase; baseline activity and responsiveness to other hormones (vasopressin, aldosterone) bringing about such a stimulation are preserved. This renders it likely that proteases contaminating most collagenase preparations exert a detrimental effect on the receptors held responsible for interaction between insulin and its target cells in the tissues examined.