Solubilized placental membrane protein inhibits insulin receptor tyrosine kinase activity

Regulation of insulin receptor (IR) tyrosine kinase (TK) activity may be important in modulating insulin action. Utilizing an assay which measures IR phosphorylation of angiotensin II (AII), the authors investigated whether fractions of TX-100 solubilized human placental membranes inhibited IR dependent AII phosphorylation. Autophosphorylated IR was incubated with membrane fractions before the addition of AII, and kinase inhibition measured by the loss of 32P incorporated in AII. An inhibitory activity was detected which was dose, time, and temperature dependent. The inhibitor was purified 200-fold by sequential chromatography on wheat germ agglutinin, DEAE, and hydroxyapatite. This inhibitory activity was found to correlate with an 80 KD protein which was electroeluted from preparative slab gels and rabbit antiserum raised. Incubation of membrane fractions with antiserum before the IRTK assay immunoprecipitated the inhibitor. Protein immunoblots of crude or purified fractions revealed only the 80 KD protein. Since IR autophosphorylation is crucial to IRTK activity, the authors investigated the state of IR autophosphorylation after treatment with inhibitor; no change was detected by phosphoamino acid analysis