Autophosphorylation of cultured skin fibroblast insulin receptors from patients with severe insulin resistance and acanthosis nigricans.

The severe insulin resistance with acanthosis nigricans seen in young women without insulin-receptor autoantibodies is characterized by hyperinsulinemia and decreased in vivo responsiveness to insulin. We evaluated the potential cellular defects in insulin-receptor binding and autophosphorylation in 12 subjects with this syndrome. When evaluated as a group, insulin binding to freshly isolated monocytes was 55% that of controls. Specific binding of insulin to skin fibroblasts in monolayer culture was 49% that of controls. Maximal insulin-stimulated receptor autophosphorylation was only 27% that of controls. Individual data demonstrated that the diminished autophosphorylation activity was out of proportion to the diminished fibroblast insulin binding in cell lines from most subjects and was less than 50% of the predicted activity in 6 of the 12 studied cell lines. These data are consistent with genetically determined defects leading to diminished numbers of cell surface insulin receptors with intact tyrosine kinase autophosphorylation in many of our cell lines. However, in at least half, there appeared to be an additional defect beyond insulin binding, resulting in a disproportionate decrease in insulin-sensitive phosphorylation of the insulin-receptor beta-subunit.