Site-site interactions among insulin receptors. Characterization of the negative cooperativity

By studying the dissociation of 125I-instulin from its receptors in the absence and phe negatively cooperative type for the insulin receptors. In the present study we extend oy purified mouse and rat liver membranes as well as in human circulating monocytes and human cultured lymphocytes demonstrated negative cooperativity that was extraordinarily simn membranes more slowly than it does from its receptors on whole cells. The dissociaty a small percentage of the receptor sites (1 to 5%), are sufficient to accelerate dissociation of hormone from receptor. At these insulin concentrations insulin is entirely monomeric, and in fact at higher concentrations of insulin (greater than 10(-7) M) where insulin dimers predominate, the cooperativity effect is progressively lost. The dissociation rate of 125I-insulin alone (that is at very low fractional saturation of receptors) was markedly accelerated by dripping the pH from 8.0 to 5.0, whereas the dissociation of 125I-insulin at high receptor occupancy was only slightly accelerated by the fall in pH. The dissociation rate was directly related to temperature, but the dissociation rate of 125I-insulin at low receptor occupancy was much more affected by reduction in temperature and showed a sharp transition at 21 degrees. Urea at concentrations as low as 1 M produced a marked acceleration of 125I-insulin dissociation. Divalent cations (calcium and magnesium) appear to stabilize the insulin-receptor interaction, since higher degrees of receptor occupancy were required to achieve a given rate of dissociation of 125I-insulin. These data make it likely that the insulin receptors exist as oligomeric structures or clusters in the plasma membrane. Insulin receptor sites appear to switch from a "slow dissociating" state to a "fast dissociating" state when their occupancy increases; the proportion of sites in each state is a function of occupancy of the receptor sites by the insulin monomer as well as of the physiochemical environment. Other models which could explain apparent negative cooperativity besides site-site interactions, i.e. polymerization of the hormone, steric or electrostatic hindrance due to ligand-ligand interactions, or unstirred (Noyes-Whitney) layers are considered unlikely in the case of insulin receptors on both experimental and theoretical grounds.