Suryawan, Agus, and Teresa A. Davis. Protein-tyrosine-phosphatase 1B activation is regulated developmentally in muscle of neonatal pigs. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 284: E47-E54, 2003. First published September 11, 2002 10.1152/ajpendo.00210.2002The high activity of the insulin-signaling pathway contributes to the enhanced feeding-induced stimulation of translation initiation in skeletal muscle of neonatal pigs. Protein-tyrosine-phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) is a negative regulator of the tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor (IR) and insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1). The activity of PTP1B is determined mainly by its association with IR and Grb2. We examined the level of PTP1B activity, PTP1B protein abundance, PTP1B tyrosine phosphorylation, and the association of PTP1B with IR and Grb2 in skeletal muscle and liver of fasted and fed 7-and 26-day-old pigs. PTP1B activity in skeletal muscle was lower (P Ͻ 0.05) in 7-compared with 26-day-old pigs but in liver was similar in the two age groups. PTP1B abundances were similar in muscle but lower (P Ͻ 0.05) in liver of 7-compared with 26-day-old pigs. PTP1B tyrosine phosphorylation in muscle was lower (P Ͻ 0.05) in 7-than in 26-day-old pigs. The associations of PTP1B with IR and with Grb2 were lower (P Ͻ 0.05) at 7 than at 26 days of age in muscle, but there were no age effects in liver. Finally, in both age groups, fasting did not have any effect on these parameters. These results indicate that basal PTP1B activation is developmentally regulated in skeletal muscle of neonatal pigs, consistent with the developmental changes in the activation of the insulin-signaling pathway reported previously. Reduced PTP1B activation in neonatal muscle likely contributes to the enhanced insulin sensitivity of skeletal muscle in neonatal pigs.neonate; insulin signaling; insulin sensitivity; protein synthesis THE ENHANCED ACTIVATION of the insulin-signaling pathway leading to translation initiation in skeletal muscle of the neonate after food consumption has an important role in the enhanced responsiveness of muscle protein synthesis to feeding in the neonate (13,16,26,27,37). We have shown that the feeding-induced activation of the insulin receptor (IR), insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1), and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase), as well as the abundance of the IR, is enhanced in skeletal muscle of the neonatal pig and decreases markedly with development. This developmental decline in the feeding-induced activation of early insulin-signaling components parallels the developmental decline in the feeding-induced activation of downstream signaling proteins, leading to the stimulation of protein synthesis in skeletal muscle and the developmental decrease in the ability of insulin to stimulate muscle protein synthesis. However, the molecular mechanism that regulates the developmental decline in the insulin sensitivity of skeletal muscle in neonatal pigs has not been elucidated.When insulin binds to its receptor, it induces autophosphorylation of the receptor on its ty...