Tissue- and fibre-specific modifications of insulin-signalling molecules in cardiac and skeletal muscle of diabetic rats.

1. Levels of insulin-signalling molecules are altered in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes, a model of Type 1 diabetes. However, the tissue-specific regulation of these changes and the effect of insulin supplementation on signalling molecule protein levels have not been well characterized. 2. In the present study, we evaluated the level of proximal insulin-signalling intermediates in the heart and in red and white gastrocnemius muscles of 2 week diabetic rats and diabetic rats supplemented with insulin. 3. Diabetes augmented levels of the insulin receptor and the p85 regulatory subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase in the red gastrocnemius, but not in the white gastrocnemius or the heart. Furthermore, diabetes reduced insulin receptor substrate-1 levels in both the red and white gastrocnemius, but not in the heart. Examination of the levels and basal activities of distal insulin-signalling intermediates (protein kinase B (PKB)/Akt, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)) also failed to reveal a specific pattern in these changes. Thus, diabetes reduced basal ERK1/2 and PKB/Akt phosphorylation in the heart and white gastrocnemius, respectively, whereas it augmented basal p38 MAPK activity in the red gastrocnemius. Insulin supplementation normalized the levels and activities of some but not all proteins. 4. In conclusion, the results of the present study demonstrate that adaptation to STZ-induced diabetes varies among skeletal muscle fibre types and the heart, emphasizing the complex tissue-specific responses to diabetes.