High frequency oscillations in the activity of phosphotyrosine phosphatase in murine erythroleukaemic cells: action of insulin and hexamethylene bisacetamide.

We have previously reported oscillations in the activities of the phosphoamino acid phosphatases in murine erythroleukaemic cells. In keeping with our predictions we now show that the phosphotyrosine phosphatase activity rhythm has a much shorter period than originally seemed the case, being of the order of 10 min and probably less. The periodic changes show evidence of rhythmic modulation of mean, period and amplitude as with all other cellular oscillations studied. Insulin decreases the frequency of the rhythm while the inducer of differentiation, hexamethylene bisacetamide (HMBA) decreases its amplitude. Current ideas on phosphorylation dynamics in relation to metabolism and mitosis may need to be revised in the light of the observations.