Insulin release and the microtubular system of the islets of Langerhans. Identification and characterization of tubulin-like protein.

1. Incubation of islets of Langerhans in vitro in the presence of colchicine produced a progressive inhibition of the insulin-secretory response to glucose, which was dependent on the time of incubation. 2. The uptake of [3-H]colchicine by islet cells was a rapid process, equilibrium being reached in less than 30 min. Part of the colchicine taken up was bound to protein material, which was recovered largely in a post-microsomal supernatant fraction prepared from the islets. In contrast with this rapid uptake, the binding of colchicine by islet-cell proteins in intact islets or in islet homogenates was a slow process, and equilibrium was not reached for 60-90 min. After an initial 30 min delay, the time-course of the binding of [3-H]colchicine to islet-cell proteins paralleled that for the inhibitory effect of colchicine on insulin release. 3. Some purification of the colchicine-binding material present in islet homogenates could be achieved by precipitation of the protein with 2mM-CaCl2 (2.8-fold). However, ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex produced a further 27-fold purification on elution with 0.6M-NaCl. 4. Colchicine-binding protein prepared from islets by ion-exchange chromatography showed an intrinsic association constant for colchicine of 1.4muM and an apparent molecular weight on gel filtration of 110000. 5. These results suggest that colchicine-binding protein in islet cells closely resembles tubulin extracted from the other tissues. The delayed effectiveness of colchicine in inhibiting insulin secretion is not due to poor penetration of colchicine into the cells but rather to slow binding of the alkaloid to islet-cell tubulin. It seems likely that, as in other tissues, this binding prevents polymerization of the tubulin into microtubules, and thus interferes with the release process.