Coypu insulin. Primary structure, conformation and biological properties of a hystricomorph rodent insulin.

Insulin from a hystricomorph rodent, coypu (Myocaster coypus), was isolated and purified to near homogeneity. Like the other insulins that have been characterized in this Suborder of Rodentia, coypu insulin also exhibits a very low (3%) biological potency, relative to pig insulin, on lipogenesis in isolated rat fat-cells. The receptor-binding affinity is significantly higher (5-8%) in rat fat-cells, in rat liver plasma membranes and in pig liver cells, indicating that the efficacy of coypu insulin on receptors is about 2-fold lower than that of pig insulin. The primary structures of the oxidized A- and B-chains were determined, and our sequence analysis confirms a previous report [Smith (1972) Diabetes 21, Suppl. 2, 457-460] that the C-terminus of the A-chain is extended by a single residue (i.e. aspartate-A22), in contrast with most other insulin sequences, which terminate at residue A21. In spite of a large number of amino acid substitutions (relative to mammalian insulins), computer-graphics model-building studies suggest a similar spatial arrangement for coypu insulin to that for pig insulin. The substitution of the zinc-co-ordinating site (B10-His----Gln) along with various substitutions on the intermolecular surfaces involved in the formation of higher aggregates are consistent with the observation that this insulin is predominantly 'monomeric' in nature. The c.d. spectrum of coypu insulin is relatively similar to those of casiragua insulin and of bovine insulin at low concentration.