Phospho-oligosaccharide dependent phosphorylation of ATP citrate lyase

The effect of insulin on ATP citrate lyase phosphorylation has been shown to be mimicked by a phospho-oligosaccharide in intact adipocytes. We demonstrate that the addition of phospho-oligosaccharide to intact adipocytes enhances the phosphorylation of ATP citrate lyase in the same tryptic peptide as insulin does. The addition of phospho-oligosaccharide to an adipocyte extract also results in an increase in ATP citrate lyase phosphorylation but in a different site than that observed in intact cells. The phospho-oligosaccharide-dependent incorporation of phosphate into ATP citrate lyase in intact cells is resistant to isopropanol and acetic acid, but the phosphoenzyme phosphorylated in cell extracts is acid labile. In cell extracts, the addition of phospho-oligosaccharide markedly inhibits ATP hydrolysis, which may explain the effect of this molecule on ATP citrate lyase phosphorylation in broken cells. These results support the hypothesis that this phospho-oligosaccharide mediates some of the effects of insulin on protein phosphorylation. They also indicate that caution should be exercised in interpreting the results obtained by adding phospho-oligosaccharide to broken cell preparations.