Wheat germ agglutinin stimulation of alpha beta heterodimeric insulin receptor beta-subunit autophosphorylation by noncovalent association into an alpha 2 beta 2 heterotetrameric state.

The purified human placental alpha 2 beta 2 heterotetrameric insulin-receptor complex was reduced and dissociated into functional alpha beta heterodimers by a combination of alkaline pH and dithiothreitol treatment. Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) was observed to stimulate the beta-subunit autophosphorylation of both the alpha 2 beta 2 heterotetrameric and alpha beta heterodimeric complexes in the absence of insulin. However, WGA was without effect on the insulin stimulation of beta-subunit autophosphorylation in these insulin-receptor complexes. In contrast, monomeric WGA was unable to stimulate the basal exogenous substrate protein kinase activity in either the alpha 2 beta 2 heterotetrameric or alpha beta heterodimeric insulin receptor complexes. The stimulatory effect of WGA was biphasic, increasing the basal insulin receptor beta-subunit autophosphorylation at low concentrations (250 ng/ml to 2.5 micrograms/ml) and inhibiting at high concentrations (greater than 25 micrograms/ml). Similarly, equilibrium tracer insulin binding was not significantly altered by low concentrations of WGA (less than 1 microgram/ml) but was dramatically reduced at high WGA concentrations (greater than 2.5 micrograms/ml). In contrast to the insulin-induced covalent association of the alpha beta heterodimeric insulin receptors to form a disulfide-linked alpha 2 beta 2 heterotetrameric complex, nonreducing sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis demonstrated that the WGA stimulation of beta-subunit autophosphorylation in the alpha beta heterodimer preparation occurred in the absence of covalent association. Nondenaturing Bio-Gel A-1.5m gel filtration chromatography and [125I]insulin affinity cross-linking demonstrated that WGA treatment of the alpha beta heterodimeric insulin receptors induced a noncovalent association into an alpha 2 beta 2 heterotetrameric state. These data support the hypothesis that the insulin receptor protein kinase activity, although dependent upon alpha beta heterodimeric subunit interactions, does not necessarily require covalent disulfide bond formation between the individual alpha beta heterodimeric species.