The Effect of Insulin on Amino Acid Incorporation into Exocrine Pancreatic Cells of the Rat

Abstract

The rate of incorporation of radioactive leucine per cell in the acinar pancreatic cells of the rat increases by 50 per cent within one hour after subcutaneous administration of insulin, an effect that lasts for at least one more hour. The rate of incorporation has been measured by quantitative radioautography and by determination of the radioactivity per µg DNA in TCA-precipitable material from tissue homogenates. The capacity for amino acid (leucine and lysine) incorporation as measured by incubating pancreatic fragments in vitro is not enhanced by insulin treatment of the rat in vivo during one or more hours.

Insulin was found to lower the serum concentration of most amino acids significantly, leucine by 50 per cent.

The apparent effect of insulin on the incorporation of radioactive leucine in vivo can be explained by the difference in the specific radioactivity of the circulating amino acid in the treated rats as compared to the untreated ones. A change in amino acid concentration in the serum may likewise be the explanation of the decrease in amino acid incorporation rate in alloxan diabetic rats.

The absence of a short term effect of insulin on the rate of protein synthesis does not exclude a long term effect as suggested by the higher rate of incorporation in the cells of peri-insular acini.

Key words

Alloxan-Diabetes - Amino Acid Incorporation - Insulin - Pancreas