Effect of insulin on glycogen and protein synthesis in monolayer cultures of hepatocytes from normal and alloxan diabetic rats.

The effects of insulin on net glycogen synthesis and amino acid incorporation into protein were studied in cultured hepatocytes from adult normal and alloxan diabetic rats. Insulin stimulated glycogen synthesis in monolayer cells throughout a four day culture period and enhanced leucine incorporation into protein more effectively in normal cells with high glycogen levels than in cultured diabetic cells. These differences correlate well with the observed cellular ultrastructures which were maintained much better in the presence of insulin. Restoration of the morphological changes of alloxan diabetic hepatocytes to normal liver cell structures can be observed at any time during the culture period by giving insulin continuously.