Abstract
It has been suggested that downstream signaling from
the insulin receptor to the level of the protein kinases
and protein phosphatases is accomplished by prostaglandylinositol
cyclic phosphate (cyclic PIP), a proposed
second messenger of insulin. However, evidence
points also to both phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase,
which binds to the tyrosine phosphorylated
insulin receptor substrate-1, and the Ras complex in
insulin's downstream signaling. We have examined
whether a correlation exists between these various
observations. It was found that wortmannin, a specific
inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, prevented
insulin-induced, as well as cyclic PIP-induced activation
of glucose transport, indicating that PI 3-kinase
action on glucose transport involves downstream signaling
of both insulin and cyclic PIP. Wortmannin has
no effect on cyclic PIP synthase activity nor on the
substrate production for cyclic PIP synthesis either,
indicating that the functional role of PI 3-kinase is
exclusively downstream of cyclic PIP.