Involvement of phospholipids in the mechanism of insulin action in HEPG2 cells.

The mechanism of action by which insulin increases phosphatidic acid (PA) and diacylglycerol (DAG) levels was investigated in cultured hepatoma cells (HEPG2). Insulin stimulated phosphatidylcholine (PC) and phosphatidyl-inositol (PI) degradation through the activation of specific phospholipases C (PLC). The DAG increase appears to be biphasic.