Mutagenic structure/function analysis of the cytoplasmic cysteines of the insulin receptor.

Native human insulin receptor (hIR) has been reported to contain only one free thiol group proposed to lie near the ATP-binding. domain of its beta-subunit [Finn, Ridge and Hofmann (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 87, 419-423]. The present study investigated the role of the six cytoplasmic cysteines of the beta-subunit of the hIR using a mutagenic approach in which insulin receptors, mutated at each cytoplasmic cysteine (to alanine) in turn, were transfected into Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Cell lines expressing hIR mutation at high level were obtained which, by both flow-cytometric analysis towards an hIR-specific monoclonal antibody (83-7) and insulin-binding analysis, were similar to the well-characterized CHOT cell line which overexpresses native hIR. The ED50 and Kd values of the mutant receptors were the same as those of the wild-type hIR. Each of the mutant receptors signalled insulin action to stimulate receptor autophosphorylation and kinase activity as well as glucose utilization to levels appropriate for the receptor level expressed. In contrast, insulin-stimulated thymidine uptake and glucose-transport responses of two of the six mutant cell lines, those expressing Cys981Ala and Cys1245Ala, were impaired compared with that of the native hIR-expressing cell line, CHOT. The beta-subunits of each of the hIR cytoplasmic cysteine mutant cell lines could be alkylated specifically with N-[3H]ethylmaleimide. The kinase activity of each receptor was inhibited by N-ethylmaleimide and stimulated by iodoacetamide, indicating that none of the cytoplasmic cysteines alone contributes the single free thiol group to the hIR structure. We conclude that the cytoplasmic cysteines of the hIR have a predominantly passive role in hIR activity although Cys-981 and Cys-1245 do affect mitogenic and glucose-transport responses of the receptor. Our findings indicate that the stoicheiometry of a single free thiol group/mol of insulin-binding activity noted in previous studies is either spread fractionally over a number of the cytoplasmic cysteines or is one of the four cysteines in the ectodomain of the hIR beta-subunit. Alternatively, the mutagenesis performed in the present study may enable differential exposure of a second titratable cysteine in wild-type and mutant receptors.

Cysteine-524 is not the only residue involved in the formation of disulphide-bonded dimers of the insulin receptor.

The human insulin receptor (hIR) is a member of the transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor family. It is a disulphide-linked homodimer which can be reduced to two insulin-binding monomers by mild reduction of class-I disulphide bonds. The number of disulphide bonds between the alpha- and beta-chains within the monomer or between the monomers in the dimer is not known, although one dimer bond involving hIR Cys-524 has recently been identified [Schaffer and Ljungqvist (1992) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 189, 650-653]. In the present report hIR Cys-524 was converted into alanine by site-directed mutagenesis and expressed at high levels in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. The mutant receptor was processed normally and shown to bind insulin normally, with ED50 and KD values not different from those of the wild-type hIR. It was still a disulphide-linked dimer as judged by SDS/PAGE, indicating that there are alpha-alpha-chain disulphide bonds additional to the Cys-524 linkage in the insulin receptor dimer. Insulin-stimulated receptor autophosphorylation and kinase activity of the mutated receptor were both impaired compared with that of the wild-type receptor by 49% and 53% respectively. CHO cells overexpressing the mutant receptor, however, did not show a reduced capacity to stimulate glucose utilization, indicative that the level of receptor expression was sufficient to saturate downstream insulin action. These findings indicate that alpha-alpha disulphides additional to that provided by Cys-524 hold the receptor dimer together and that mutagenesis of Cys-524 reduces the ability of the receptor to signal insulin action subsequent to hormone binding.