R. Roth
Jan 30, 1981
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102
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Journal
Biochemical and biophysical research communications
Abstract
Abstract The antibiotic bacitracin, a known inhibitor of insulin degradation by both isolated cells and subcellular organelles, inhibited the ability of purified glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase to split insulin into its constituent A and B chains. This inhibition was demonstrated by measuring the formation of insulin degradative products that were both soluble in 5% trichloroacetic acid and chromatographed as the separate chains of insulin on Sephadex G-50. At concentrations of 90 and 300 μM, bacitracin inhibited 50 and 90%, respectively, of the degrading activity of the purified enzyme. Similarly, degradation by crude liver lysates was inhibited 50 and 90% by 70 and 250 μM bacitracin, respectively. Kinetic studies indicated that this inhibition was by a complex mechanism that decreased both the Vmax and affinity of the enzyme for insulin. These data raise the possibility that the inhibition of glutathione-insulin transhydrogenase by bacitracin could account for part or all of the effects of this antibiotic on inhibition of insulin degradation by target cells.