| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908-1410
Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Zhenqi Liu, M.D., Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Virginia Health System, P.O. Box 801410, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908-1410. E-mail: zl3e{at}virginia.edu.
| Abstract |
|---|
|
|
|---|
10 nM) insulin concentrations are typically used to study insulin receptor (IR) signaling pathways and nitric oxide generation. IGF-I receptors (IGF-IRs) are more abundant than IR in ECs, and they also respond to high concentrations of insulin. To address whether IR mediates responses to physiologic insulin stimuli, we examined the insulin concentration dependence of IR and IGF-IR-mediated insulin signaling in bovine aortic ECs (bAECs). We also assessed whether insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptors were present in bAECs. Insulin, at 100500 pM, significantly stimulated the phosphorylation of IRß, Akt1, endothelial isoform of nitric oxide synthase, and ERK 1/2 but not the IGF-IRß subunit. At concentrations 15 nM or greater, insulin dose-dependently enhanced the tyrosine phosphorylation of IGF-IRß, and this was inhibited by IGF-IR neutralizing antibody. In addition, immunoprecipitation of IRß pulled down the IGF-IRß, and the IRß immunocytochemically colocalized with IGF-IRß, suggesting that ECs have insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptors. We conclude that: 1) insulin at physiological concentrations selectively activates IR signaling in bAECs; 2) bAECs express IGF-IR and insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptors in addition to IR; 3) high concentrations of insulin (
15 nM) activate IGF-IR and hybrid receptors as well as IR; and 4) this crossover activation can confound interpretation of studies of insulin action in ECs when high insulin concentrations are used. | Introduction |
|---|
|
|
|---|
treatment) (12, 13, 14, 15) states of insulin resistance. Clinically, endothelial dysfunction is an early marker of vascular disease, which is itself more prevalent in the diabetic population (16, 17). However, our mechanistic understanding of insulins direct actions on the endothelium remains poorly characterized. This arises in part because the measures used to characterize insulin action in vivo only indirectly report on the role of the endothelium. Thus, insulin-induced smooth muscle relaxation may be due to endothelial action of insulin; insulin acting directly on smooth muscle; or, in the case of skeletal muscle, insulin acting on skeletal muscle that in turn affects vasodilation. Each of these cells possesses insulin receptors (IRs) (18) and one or another isoform of nitric oxide synthase (19). We recently reported that insulin-mediated capillary recruitment preceded activation of insulin signaling pathways within rat muscle, thereby arguing against myocyte involvement in insulin-mediated capillary recruitment (7). The relaxation of resistance arterioles and increases of total muscle blood flow occur slowly and require up to several hours of insulin exposure (18, 20); hence, nonendothelial effects of insulin are not only possibly but also very likely involved.
This underscores the importance of direct examination of insulins action on ECs. Evidence for a direct action of insulin on the ECs comes first from the demonstration that these cells possess IR, insulin can stimulate receptor autophosphorylation, and insulin also affects downstream signaling pathways including the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase) pathway (21, 22, 23, 24, 25). Activation of this pathway leads to the activation of protein kinase B (or Akt), which can phosphorylate and activate the endothelial isoform of nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). These findings support a direct role of the EC in the vascular actions of insulin described above. However, it is also true that the majority of studies of insulin action on ECs have used unphysiologically high concentrations of insulin (typically
10 nM) (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26). This alone would raise questions regarding the physiological relevance of observations made in these cells. This concern is rendered all the more relevant by the observation that ECs express greater numbers of receptors for IGF-I than insulin (27), and insulin at supraphysiological concentrations can cross-react with IGF-I receptors (IGF-IR). In addition, a recent report suggests that human umbilical vein ECs (HUVEC), like many other insulin-sensitive tissues, express hybrid receptors (28) that are composed of one
- and one ß-subunit of the IR and a corresponding
- and ß-subunit of the IGF-IR. When studied in other tissues, these hybrid receptors appear to have binding characteristics toward insulin more akin to that of the IGF-IR (29, 30, 31).
The major purpose of the present study was to address whether ECs could respond to insulin at physiologically relevant concentrations at which action through the IGF-IR could be excluded. We report that insulin selectively stimulates the tyrosine (Tyr) phosphorylation of its own receptor ß-subunit and activates downstream signaling pathways in cultured bovine aortic ECs (bAECs). This occurs at insulin concentrations that do not Tyr-phosphorylate the IGF-IR ß-subunit. We also confirm that bAECs, like several other insulin sensitive tissues, may possess hybrid insulin/IGF-I receptors. These findings underscore that dissecting the specific actions of insulin within the ECs requires careful attention to the insulin concentration to avoid confounding contributions from the IGF-IR or insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptors.
| Materials and Methods |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Immunoprecipitation of IRß and IGF-IRß
Aliquots of supernatant containing 500-1000 µg protein in 1000 µl lysis buffer were incubated with 25 µl primary antibody against either IRß or IGF-IRß (2.5 µg/ml) overnight at 4 C. Protein A/G plus IgG-agarose was then added and the mixture was kept at 4 C for 1 h with gentle rocking. After washing six times with lysis buffer, the beads were spun down (1000 x g for 30 sec), resuspended in 50 µl 2x sample buffer [375 mM Tris-HCl (pH 6.8), 12% sodium dodecyl sulfate, 60% glycerol, 300 mM dithiothreitol, and 0.06% bromophenol blue], and boiled for 5 min.
Immunoblotting
Equal amount of IRß or IGF-IRß immunoprecipitate or aliquots of cell lysate supernatant containing approximately 100 µg protein were diluted with an equal volume of sodium dodecyl sulfate sample buffer and electrophoresed on a 10% polyacrylamide gel, transferred to nitrocellulose, and blocked with 5% low-fat milk in Tris-buffered saline plus Tween 20. Subsequently membranes were probed with antibodies against IRß, IGF-IRß, phospho-Tyr (p-Tyr) (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA), phospho-Akt1 (Ser 473) (Upstate Cell Signaling, Lake Placid, NY), phospho-ERK1/2, or phospho-eNOS (Ser1177) (New England BioLabs, Beverly, MA) for 1 h at 4 C. This was followed by a donkey antirabbit IgG coupled to horseradish peroxidase, and the blots were developed using enhanced chemiluminescence detection (Amersham Life Sciences, Piscataway, NJ). To assure equal loading of proteins, membranes probed with antibodies against above-mentioned phosphoproteins were stripped with restore Western blot stripping buffer (Pierce Chemical Co., Rockford, IL) and reprobed with antibodies against IRß, IGF-IRß, Akt1, ERK1/2, or eNOS as appropriate.
Immunocytochemical staining
The double-staining protocols were the same as we described previously (32, 33). Briefly, bAECs were grown in slide chambers as described above. Cells were fixed with cold methanol for 10 min at 20 C, washed three times in PBS, permeabilized in PBS containing 0.05% Triton X-100 and 1% horse serum for 30 min at room temperature, and incubated with mouse monoclonal anti-IRß antibody (Chemicon International, Temecula, CA; 1:50) and rabbit polyclonal antibody against IGF-IRß (Santa Cruz Biotechnology; 1:50) (double labeling) overnight at 4 C. After washing three times with PBS, cells were then incubated with species-specific secondary antibodies conjugated with a fluorochrome (either Cy2 or Cy3) (Jackson ImmunoResearch, West Grove, PA) at 1:200 dilutions for 45 min at room temperature, washed three more times with PBS, and coverslipped with the antifade mounting medium.
Confocal imaging
The double-immunocytochemical labeling was examined simultaneously using a two-color BX50 WI confocal microscope (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan) equipped with krypton and argon laser as described previously (32, 33). An x-y-z-axis scanning method was employed. The images were scanned through up to x100 objectives, acquired at a resolution of 1024 x 1024 pixels, and stored in 24-bit TIFF format. To address whether the immunoreactivity was located within the cells, a series of optical sections at a thickness of less than 0.1 µm was acquired from the top to the bottom of the cells along the z-axis.
| Results |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
|
bAECs express both IGF-IR and insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptors
ECs possess abundant IGF-IR (27), and studies done in cell lines other than ECs have demonstrated a cross-activation of IGF-IR when insulin is present at high concentrations. Also, a recent report suggests that HUVEC, like muscle and adipose tissue, expresses insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptors (28). To ascertain whether bAECs also express insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptors, we immunoprecipitated cell lysates with either anti-IRß or anti-IGF-IRß and then probed with antibodies against either IRß or IGF-IRß. As shown in Fig. 3
, IGF-IRß clearly coprecipitated with IRß, and a significant amount of IRß coprecipitated with IGF-IRß. Because the IRß and IGF-IRß antibodies used do not cross-react with IGF-IRß and IRß, respectively, our data suggest that in addition to IR and IGF-IR, insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptors are present in cultured bAECs.
|
|
|
| Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Considering first what was seen when the ECs were exposed to physiologic insulin concentrations, it is clear that this was sufficient to substantially activate downstream insulin signaling including at least Akt1 and eNOS as well as ERK1/2. This was seen with insulin concentrations that had no effect to enhance the tyrosine phosphorylation of the IGF-IRß subunit. This certainly suggests that these actions result from insulin stimulation of its own receptor tyrosine kinase. That preincubation of ECs with IGF-IR neutralizing antibody completely abolished insulin-stimulated IGF-IRß Tyr phosphorylation but not IRß Tyr phosphorylation or Akt1 serine phosphorylation confirms that insulin indeed can activate its receptor kinase activity and downstream signaling independent of IGF-IR.
These results support the hypothesis that insulins physiologic actions on the vasculature, which contribute to insulin-mediated glucose disposal, may indeed result, at least in part, from direct actions on the ECs. For example, recent results from in vivo studies in our laboratory indicate that very modest increases in plasma insulin concentration from 60 to 300 pM exert a nitric oxide (NO)-dependent action to recruit capillaries within skeletal muscle (6, 7, 34). These effects occur very promptly, being significant by 10 min and fully established by 30 min, a time course similar to that observed here for Tyr phosphorylation of IR. Furthermore, these in vivo responses precede any discernible metabolic effect of insulin on skeletal muscle, implying a more direct effect on the vasculature. Previous reports that insulin augments endothelial NO production or phosphorylation of Akt or eNOS have involved using insulin at concentrations of 10 nM or greater (21, 22, 24, 25). Thus, the current results in cultured bAECs are quite consistent with what has been seen in vivo and would be consonant with the hypothesis that insulin can act directly on the endothelium at physiologic concentrations to exert NO-mediated biologic effects. These observations, of course, in no way exclude the possibilities that insulin might also affect smooth muscle cells and that direct actions on these cells may be importantly involved in insulins in vivo vascular action.
The concept that insulin has an important physiologic action on the ECs is perhaps challenged by the observation that mice deficient in IR selectively in the ECs (VENIRKO mice) are insulin resistant only when studied on a low-salt diet (35). However, because targeted deletion of IR in skeletal muscle also minimally affects glucose metabolism, it is clear that either other developmental compensation can occur (expression of both eNOS and endothelin-1 are altered in VENIRKO mice) or our ability to finely assess significant but not gross dysfunction is not in hand. It is obviously easier to dismiss the action of insulin on ECs as of no physiologic significance if it is seen only at supraphysiologic insulin concentrations. Insulins action on ECs has previously been most thoroughly studied by Quon and colleagues using HUVECs (21, 22, 24, 25). That laboratory demonstrated that insulin induces phosphorylation of IR, Akt, and eNOS. The latter two actions are blunted by inhibition of PI-3-kinase. However, in their studies no significant effect was seen at insulin concentrations less than 10 nM, and its effect was half maximal at approximately 500 nM. Whether this much reduced insulin sensitivity, compared with our current work, relates to differences between bovine aortic and human venous cells or other specific aspects of the experimental protocol is uncertain. In a number of other studies using either pulmonary arterial (26) or aortic ECs (36, 37), clear demonstration of effects of insulin again were seen only with unphysiologically high concentrations. We would emphasize that findings from our current work in bAECs fully support the conclusions reached by Quon and colleagues from studies using higher insulin concentrations in HUVECs.
Our observation that higher concentrations of insulin (
15 nM) significantly stimulate IGF-IRß tyrosine phosphorylation confirmed the crossover effect of insulin described in other tissues. Generally, in vitro studies of the IGF-IR suggest that it has a more than 100 times lesser relative affinity for insulin than does IR, and the insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptors behave similarly to IGF-IR in insulin or IGF-I binding affinity (38, 39). In the current study, we saw stimulation of the tyrosine phosphorylation of IGF-IR in ECs when insulin concentrations were between 1 and 5 nM or 10- to 50-fold above the lowest insulin dose that stimulated IRß Tyr phosphorylation. It is possible that this reflects, at least in part, a greater abundance of IGF-IR and insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptors, compared with IR in the ECs. IGF-I, like insulin, can stimulate NO production in cultured ECs (40) and increase skeletal muscle blood flow in humans (41).
Others have reported that the IGF-IR is as much as 10-fold more abundant than IR on ECs (at least in HUVECs) (42). The contribution of hybrid receptors to this estimate is not known. Our results from IGF-IRß and IRß reciprocal immunoprecipitation and immunoblotting study (Fig. 3
) and immunocytochemical staining/confocal microscopy (Fig. 4
) suggested that indeed there are ample insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptors in ECs as well. However, this technique cannot exclude the possibility that the IGF-I and insulin receptors are part of a macromolecular complex that is not disrupted by the lysis procedure and they are being jointly immunoprecipitated as part of a larger complex. We did not attempt to quantitate the relative proportions of insulin, IGF-I, and insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptors present on ECs. We did, however, attempt to define the contribution of IR and IGF-IR or hybrid receptors to insulin signaling by varying insulin concentrations throughout the physiologic and pharmacologic range. Interestingly, we did not observe a further increase in IRß Tyr phosphorylation when insulin was present at pharmacological concentrations. One might assume that Tyr phosphorylation of the IRß subunits from the insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptors should result in higher signal intensity. Whether this is due to the semiquantitative nature of the Western blotting technique, some more complex interaction between the subunits of the hybrid receptor, or a decline in native IR phosphorylation at very high insulin concentrations was not investigated.
We note that whereas insulin-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of its own receptor appeared to reach a maximum between 0.2 and 0.5 nM, phosphorylation of Akt and eNOS continued to increase up to insulin concentrations of 100 nM. This also appeared to occur in the presence of IGF-IR blocking antibody (Fig. 5B
). Several factors may account for this. First, because the insulin concentration is further raised, it is possible that insulin is competing with the IGF-I blocking antibody because both compounds associate reversibly with the IGF-IR; second, the hybrid receptors we report (see also Ref.28) may be less sensitive to the IGF-IR blocking antibody than is the native IGF-IR, allowing some further stimulation of the IGF-I/insulin signal transduction pathways at high insulin concentrations. In addition, because there is both amplification of signal within the PI3-kinase/Akt pathway and cross talk between the various arms of IR signaling cascades (e.g. the ERK pathway and the Akt pathway), there may not be a one-to-one quantitative correspondence between IR phosphorylation and phosphorylation of downstream signaling molecules. Finally, Western blotting is by its nature a semiquantitative method that also might prevent a one-to-one correspondence between IR and Akt or eNOS phosphorylation.
In conclusion, bAECs express IGF-IR and insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptors in addition to IR, but the phosphorylation/activation of IR alone is very sensitive to physiological doses of insulin. High doses of insulin cross-activate IGF-IR and insulin/IGF-I hybrid receptors, and this may confound interpretation of previous studies of high-dose insulin action on ECs. The ability of insulin to both phosphorylate its receptor and activate downstream signaling pathways at insulin concentrations well within the physiological range supports the consideration of these cells as a potentially important insulin target tissue. Nevertheless, our data do not clarify whether the vascular action of insulin is impaired in pathological conditions associated with insulin resistance, (e.g. obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus). Much further study is needed to define this relationship, if any.
| Footnotes |
|---|
First Published Online August 11, 2005
Abbreviations: bAEC, Bovine aortic EC; EC, endothelial cell; eNOS, endothelial isoform of nitric oxide synthase; HUVEC, human umbilical vein EC; IGF-IR, IGF-I receptor; IR, insulin receptor; NO, nitric oxide; PI3-kinase, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; p-Tyr, phospho-Tyr.
Received April 28, 2005.
Accepted for publication July 29, 2005.
| References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
. Diabetes 49:19041909[Abstract]
inhibits flow and insulin signaling leading to NO production in aortic endothelial cells. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 280:C1057C1065
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
S. Erbel, C. Reers, V. W. Eckstein, J. Kleeff, M. W. Buchler, P. P. Nawroth, and R. A. Ritzel Proliferation of Colo-357 Pancreatic Carcinoma Cells and Survival of Patients With Pancreatic Carcinoma Are Not Altered by Insulin Glargine Diabetes Care, June 1, 2008; 31(6): 1105 - 1111. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
G. Li, J.-P. del Rincon, L. A. Jahn, Y. Wu, B. Gaylinn, M. O. Thorner, and Z. Liu Growth Hormone Exerts Acute Vascular Effects Independent of Systemic or Muscle Insulin-like Growth Factor I J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., April 1, 2008; 93(4): 1379 - 1385. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
C. Lotton, D. Rodrigue, C. Elie, A. Rothenbuhler, N. Lahlou, C. Le Stunff, and P. Bougneres Akt Phosphorylation in Lymphocytes Provides an Index of in Vitro Insulin-Like Growth Factor I Sensitivity Associated with Growth Hormone-Induced Growth J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., April 1, 2008; 93(4): 1458 - 1463. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
H. Wang, A. X. Wang, Z. Liu, and E. J. Barrett Insulin Signaling Stimulates Insulin Transport by Bovine Aortic Endothelial Cells Diabetes, March 1, 2008; 57(3): 540 - 547. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
U. Hiden, E. Glitzner, M. Ivanisevic, J. Djelmis, C. Wadsack, U. Lang, and G. Desoye MT1-MMP Expression in First-Trimester Placental Tissue Is Upregulated in Type 1 Diabetes as a Result of Elevated Insulin and Tumor Necrosis Factor-{alpha} Levels Diabetes, January 1, 2008; 57(1): 150 - 157. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
L. Wang, T. C. Schulz, E. S. Sherrer, D. S. Dauphin, S. Shin, A. M. Nelson, C. B. Ware, M. Zhan, C.-Z. Song, X. Chen, et al. Self-renewal of human embryonic stem cells requires insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor and ERBB2 receptor signaling Blood, December 1, 2007; 110(12): 4111 - 4119. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Z. Liu Insulin at physiological concentrations increases microvascular perfusion in human myocardium Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, November 1, 2007; 293(5): E1250 - E1255. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
E. R. Duncan, S. J. Walker, V. A. Ezzat, S. B. Wheatcroft, J.-M. Li, A. M. Shah, and M. T. Kearney Accelerated endothelial dysfunction in mild prediabetic insulin resistance: the early role of reactive oxygen species Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, November 1, 2007; 293(5): E1311 - E1319. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
R. Muniyappa, M. Montagnani, K. K. Koh, and M. J. Quon Cardiovascular Actions of Insulin Endocr. Rev., August 1, 2007; 28(5): 463 - 491. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
G. Li, E. J. Barrett, M. O. Barrett, W. Cao, and Z. Liu Tumor Necrosis Factor-{alpha} Induces Insulin Resistance in Endothelial Cells via a p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase-Dependent Pathway Endocrinology, July 1, 2007; 148(7): 3356 - 3363. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Denley, J. M. Carroll, G. V. Brierley, L. Cosgrove, J. Wallace, B. Forbes, and C. T. Roberts Jr. Differential Activation of Insulin Receptor Substrates 1 and 2 by Insulin-Like Growth Factor-Activated Insulin Receptors Mol. Cell. Biol., May 15, 2007; 27(10): 3569 - 3577. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
W. Chai and Z. Liu p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Mediates Palmitate-Induced Apoptosis But Not Inhibitor of Nuclear Factor-{kappa}B Degradation in Human Coronary Artery Endothelial Cells Endocrinology, April 1, 2007; 148(4): 1622 - 1628. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Fischoeder, H. Meyborg, D. Stibenz, E. Fleck, K. Graf, and P. Stawowy Insulin augments matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression in monocytes Cardiovasc Res, March 1, 2007; 73(4): 841 - 848. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
G. S. Johansson and H. J. Arnqvist Insulin and IGF-I action on insulin receptors, IGF-I receptors, and hybrid insulin/IGF-I receptors in vascular smooth muscle cells Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, November 1, 2006; 291(5): E1124 - E1130. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
R. Slaaby, L. Schaffer, I. Lautrup-Larsen, A. S. Andersen, A. C. Shaw, I. S. Mathiasen, and J. Brandt Hybrid Receptors Formed by Insulin Receptor (IR) and Insulin-like Growth Factor I Receptor (IGF-IR) Have Low Insulin and High IGF-1 Affinity Irrespective of the IR Splice Variant J. Biol. Chem., September 8, 2006; 281(36): 25869 - 25874. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J Ogino, K Sakurai, K Yoshiwara, Y. Suzuki, N Ishizuka, N Seki, Y. Suzuki, H Koseki, T Shirasawa, N Hashimoto, et al. Insulin resistance and increased pancreatic {beta}-cell proliferation in mice expressing a mutant insulin receptor (P1195L). J. Endocrinol., September 1, 2006; 190(3): 739 - 747. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
H. Wang, Z. Liu, G. Li, and E. J. Barrett The vascular endothelial cell mediates insulin transport into skeletal muscle Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, August 1, 2006; 291(2): E323 - E332. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. R. Gosmanov, F. B. Stentz, and A. E. Kitabchi De novo emergence of insulin-stimulated glucose uptake in human aortic endothelial cells incubated with high glucose Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, March 1, 2006; 290(3): E516 - E522. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||