Hormone-induced conformational changes in the hepatic insulin receptor.

The insulin receptor can exist in either a lower or a higher affinity state. Hormone binding alters the equilibrium between the two states of the insulin receptor, favoring the formation of that of higher affinity (Corin, R.E., and Donner, D.B. (1982), J. Biol. Chem. 257, 104-110). After brief or extended incubations with hormone, during which the fraction of higher affinity receptors increased, 125I-insulin was covalently coupled to the alpha subunits of its receptor using disuccinimidyl suberate. Some 125I-insulin remained bound to higher affinity receptors after dissociation of hormone from lower affinity sites. This hormone could also be covalently coupled to the alpha subunit of the receptor. During extended incubations between 125I-insulin and liver plasma membranes, components of the receptor were cleaved to yield degradation products of 120,000 and 23,000 Da. The significance of this process remains undetermined. Unoccupied insulin receptors were cleaved by trypsin to produce fragments of 94,000 and 37,000 Da which remained membrane-bound and could be covalently coupled to 125I-insulin. Trypsin treatment after binding yielded an additional receptor fragment of 64,000 Da. As the incubation time between 125I-insulin and membranes was lengthened, components of the receptor became progressively less sensitive to trypsin. Higher affinity binding sites isolated after release of rapid dissociating insulin were less sensitive to trypsin than were mixtures of higher and lower affinity receptors. These observations suggest that hormone binding produces two conformational changes (alterations of tryptic lability) in the hepatic insulin receptor. The first change is rapid and exposes parts of the receptor to tryptic degradation. The second, slower conformational change renders the receptor less sensitive to trypsin and occurs with the same time course as the increase of receptor affinity mediated by site occupancy.