1. 3′:5′-Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase activity was measured in homogenates prepared from epididymal fat-pads and isolated fat-cells incubated in the absence and presence of insulin. 2. Homogenates of insulin-treated tissues showed an increase in phosphodiesterase activity compared with controls. No effect of insulin was observed when the hormone was added directly to homogenates. 3. There was kinetic evidence for the presence of two 3′:5′-cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases in adipose tissue. Insulin raised the maximal velocity of the low-Km enzyme and lowered the Km of the higher-Km enzyme. 4. It is suggested that the effect of insulin on adipose tissue phosphodiesterase accounts for the ability of this hormone to lower cyclic-AMP concentration in the tissue.

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A B S T R A C T Livers of normal mice were prefused in situ and the secretion of newly synthesized (i.e. labeled) proteins into the perfusate were measured. In control livers, the secretion of newly synthesized proteins was found to be linear with time. In marked contrast, when livers were perfused with vinblastine, vincristine, or colchicine, drugs known to interfere with the hepatic microtubular system, the release of newly synthesized proteins was either strongly inhibited or completely suppressed although total hepatic protein synthesis (estimated by the incorporation of labeled amino acids into hepatic plus perfusate proteins) remained unaltered. Chromatographic separation of the various secreted proteins showed that the release of albumin, globulins, and small polypeptides was decreased to a similar extent by vincristine or colchicine. In the particular case of albumin, it was further observed that total (i.e. liver plus perfusate) labeled amino acid incorporation into albumin was not altered by either vincristine or colchicine, whereas the incorporation of these amino acids into liver albumin was markedly increased but incorporation into perfusate albumin was decreased, suggesting that the translocation of this particular protein from the liver to the perfusate had been affected by the presence of these drugs. It is proposed that the functional integrity of microtubules is necessary for the intracellular movement and eventual release of albumin and other proteins by the liver, and suggested that microtubules might possibly be a site of regulation of hepatic protein secretion.

The decrease of insulin binding to plasma membranes of liver, adipose, and muscle tissues observed in obese-hyperglycemic (ob/ob) mice was reversed towards normal by prolonged fasting or streptozotocin treatment. The extent of this reversal was related to that of the decrease in hyperinsulinemia of the obese mice. In contrast, binding of glucagon to liver plasma membranes was little influenced by fasting or streptozotocin treatment of obese animals. The relationship between insulin binding and metabolic effects of the hormone did not appear to be identical in all tissues. In muscle, insulin binding and insulin effect on glucose uptake and metabolism changed in parallel--i.e., when binding increased, tissue sensitivity to the hormone increased. In the liver, the increase in insulin binding that followed fasting or streptozotocin treatment was not accompanied by any detectable metabolic effect of insulin on hepatic metabolism. A similar situation appeared to prevail in adipose tissue. The varying relationships observed between the state of insulin binding to membranes and the target tissue responsiveness to the hormone probably reflect the multiplicity of the factors operative in these processes and help us to understand why the over-all obese-hyperglycemic syndrome of ob/ob mice cannot be improved simply by decreasing endogenous hyperinsulinemia.

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