Insulin and IGF-I phosphorylate eNOS in HUVECs by a caveolin-1 dependent mechanism.

Caveolae are plasmamembrane regions which take part in the regulation of intracellular trafficking and signaling of tyrosine kinase receptors. Insulin and IGF-I receptors and their intracellular substrates localize in caveolae. Also eNOS is targeted to caveolae and caveolin-1, the major caveolar protein, acts as a regulator of eNOS activity. Since Insulin and IGF-I phosphorylate and activate eNOS, we investigated the role of caveolin-1 in Insulin and IGF-I stimulated eNOS activity. Here we show that: (1) in human endothelial cells, Insulin and IGF-I stimulate eNOS phosphorylation in a different manner both qualitatively and quantitatively; (2) caveolin-1 down regulation abolishes Insulin and IGF-I stimulated eNOS phosphorylation. These results suggest that caveolae could represent an intracellular site that contributes to differentiate IR and IGF-IR activity, and demonstrate the role of caveolin-1 in the eNOS activation by Insulin and IGF-I.