Role of insulin receptor and insulin signaling on αPS2CβPS integrins' lateral diffusion

Integrins are ubiquitous transmembrane receptors with adhesion and signaling properties. The influence of insulin receptor and insulin signaling on αPS2CβPS integrins' lateral diffusion was studied using single particle tracking in S2 cells before and after reducing the insulin receptor expression or insulin stimulation. Insulin signaling was monitored by Western blotting for phospho-Akt expression. The expression of the insulin receptor was reduced using RNA interference (RNAi). After insulin receptor RNAi, four significant changes were measured in integrin diffusion properties: (1) there was a 24% increase in the mobile integrin population, (2) 14% of the increase was represented by integrins with Brownian diffusion, (3) for integrins that reside in confined zones of diffusion, there was a 45% increase in the diameter of the confined zone, and (4) there was a 29% increase in the duration integrins spend in confined zones of diffusion. In contrast to reduced expression of the insulin receptor, which alters integrin diffusion properties, insulin stimulation alone or insulin stimulation under conditions of reduced insulin receptor expression have minimal effects on altering the measured integrin diffusion properties. The differences in integrin diffusion measured after insulin receptor RNAi in the presence or absence of insulin stimulation may be the result of other insulin signaling pathways that are activated at reduced insulin receptor conditions. No change in the average integrin diffusion coefficient was measured for any conditions included in this study.