Role of induced proteins in insulin-stimulated sodium transport

Insulin increases active sodium transport by the toad urinary bladder, an effect that begins with 15 minutes and persists for at least 20 hours. Although pretreatment of bladders with inhibitors of RNA or protein synthesis has no effect on the response to insulin within the first hour, these agents block the long-term component of insulin-stimulated sodium transport. To examine the relationship of protein synthesis to the sustained increase in sodium transport elicited by insulin, we have studied the effects of the hormone upon the incorporation of radioactive amino acids into mucosal cell proteins. There is no detectable effect of insulin on the uptake of aminoisobutyric acid into mucosal cells or on the incorporation of labeled precursors into total protein; however, using a dual-label technique, we find that insulin increases the incorporation of amino acids into specific soluble and plasma-membrane proteins of granular mucosal cells. Insulin has no discernible effect upon the incorporation of amino acids into proteins of mitochondria-rich mucosal cells. Thus the effects of insulin upon sodium transport appear to be the result of two separate mechanisms, (1) a short-term response that is independent of protein synthesis and (2) a long-term response that is expressed after the first hour of hormone treatment and that requires the synthesis of one or more specific proteins in the granular cell.