Purification of putative insulin-sensitive cAMP phosphodiesterase or its catalytic domain from rat adipocytes

Insulin acutely inhibits the catecholamine-stimulated rise in cAMP levels in fat, liver, and muscle primarily through stimulation of the enzyme cAMP phosphodiesterase (PDE). Adipocytes from rat epidydimal fat pads were exposed to insulin and fractionated by centrifugation. Whereas the cytosolic fraction contained a low-affinity cAMP PDE that was unaffected by insulin, the activity of a high-affinity enzyme residing in a particulate fraction was increased by insulin. This enzyme activity could be solubilized with nonionic detergent and chromatographed on ion exchange followed by chromatofocusing. The resulting enzyme preparation was subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Silver staining revealed a single band with a molecular weight of 60,000. This apparent molecular weight was verified by calculation of the hydrodynamic properties of the enzyme. Evaluation of its kinetic properties indicated that the enzyme activity residing in this solubilized 60,000-Mr protein exhibited lower affinity than the membrane-bound enzyme but was still specific for cAMP. Activation of this enzyme may be one of the primary mechanisms by which insulin counteracts the effects of adenylate cyclase-stimulating hormones.