Differential binding of sulphated insulin to adipocytes and hepatocytes

The polymerization and precipitation of highly purified insulins which causes major problems in portable infusion systems does not occur with sulphated insulin. To compare the biological behaviour of sulphated insulin with that of a neutral highly purified monocomponent insulin, insulin receptor studies were performed on human and rat adipocytes and rat hepatocytes. Sulphated insulin displayed a lower affinity for binding to both human and rat adipocytes compared with neutral insulin, approximately four times the concentration being required to achieve half-maximal displacement of monoiodoinsulin (p less than 0.05 and 0.01, respectively). A 20-fold higher concentration of sulphated insulin was required for half-maximal displacement from rat hepatocytes (p less than 0.025). However, sulphated insulin bound to liver membranes with an affinity more closely resembling that for adipocytes rather than hepatocytes. Differences in the intracellular processing of the negatively charged insulin could account for the observed lower affinity of binding to hepatocytes.