Effects of diabetes and sex steroid hormones on insulin receptor tyrosine kinase activity in R3230AC mammary adenocarcinomas.

Insulin binding and receptor tyrosine kinase activity were investigated in the insulin-responsive R3230AC mammary adenocarcinoma. Insulin receptors, partially purified by wheat germ agglutinin-agarose chromatography, displayed electrophoretic properties similar to those of normal tissues and demonstrated autophosphorylation of the beta subunit. Tyrosine kinase activity of tumor preparations was measured by incorporation of 32P from ATP into the synthetic polypeptide substrate glutamic acid80:tyrosine20. The Km (app) for ATP, 15 to 30 microM in tumors from ovariectomized or intact rats, appeared to be increased by 10(-7) M insulin in vitro, with the calculated Vmax increased by 3- to 5-fold; the Km (app) for glutamic acid80:tyrosine20 was 2 to 3 microM and insulin increased the Vmax by 25 to 50%. The effects of diabetes and insulin treatment and of various doses of estradiol, progesterone, estradiol plus progesterone, or tamoxifen on insulin binding, basal tyrosine kinase activity, and insulin-inducible tyrosine kinase activity in vitro were studied in tumors from treated animals. Preparations from diabetic rats had elevated insulin binding and basal tyrosine kinase activity and displayed a striking dose-related increase in the ability for insulin induction of tyrosine kinase activity in vitro compared to intact animals; these effects of diabetes were prevented by administration of insulin. Over comparable doses, insulin growth factor 1 added in vitro induced tyrosine kinase activity minimally versus that seen for insulin. Treatment of rats with pharmacological doses of sex steroid hormones produced changes in insulin binding capacity and/or basal tyrosine kinase activity and, depending on dose, usually resulted in increased basal kinase activity relative to insulin binding. The insulin-inducible increase in tyrosine kinase activity in vitro was not altered by treatment with estradiol or estradiol plus progesterone in vivo, whereas high doses of progesterone attenuated the response. A consistent finding with increasing doses of sex steroids was an increase in the half-maximum dose or 50% maximum induction dose for insulin, implying reduced responsiveness. Tamoxifen administered to intact rats increased insulin binding and blunted the insulin-induced increase in tyrosine kinase in vitro; these effects were not seen in ovariectomized rats...