Summary. Proinsulin synthesis, insulin release and intracellular ATP concentrations were measured in isolated rat islets of Langerhans under control conditions of in vitro incubation and after treatment with several concentrations of streptozotocin for different periods of time. It was found that streptozotocin inhibited proinsulin synthesis, as well as insulin release, in a time and concentration dependent manner. The characteristics of the inhibition of these two processes were similar in general terms, but one dissimilarity was noted, i.e. after 60 min exposure to a high concentration of streptozotocin, proinsulin synthesis was inhibited more than insulin release. ATP content was reduced by high concentrations of streptozotocin, but it was found that proinsulin synthesis and insulin release could be inhibited without any effect on ATP content by a low (0.22 mM) concentration of streptozotocin. The effect of streptozotocin on proinsulin synthesis was judged to be the result of a target specificity for the B-cell rather than a specific effect on proinsulin relative to total protein synthesis. [4] activity, has been structurally characterized as 2-deoxy-2-(3'-methyl-3'-nitrosoureido)-D-glucopyranose [5]. The compound has been used extensively for the induction of experimental diabetes in laboratory animals and may, because of the reproducibility of its effects, be the agent of choice for this purpose [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16].The mechanism by which streptozotocin selectively destroys ttie B-cells of the islets of Langerhans is not known, although lowering of intracellular nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) levels may be involved. Certainly, the administration of nicotinamide, a precursor of NAD in many tissues, protects against the diabetogenic effects of subsequently administered streptozotocin [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. This protection may, however, unmask a long term oncogenic effect of the drug [26,27].Studies of the effects of streptozotocin on islets of Langerhans have shown a correlation between the extent of B-cell destruction and the decrease in islet NAD [25]; decreased oxidation of glucose by islets isolated after in vivo administration of a diabetogenic dose of streptozotocin [28]; and a dose-related inhibition of glucose-induced insulin secretion during two hours of incubation, when the drug was added in vitro to isolated islets [29]. The purpose of the present study was that of investigating the effects of streptozotocin on proinsulin synthesis, while simultaneously measuring its effects upon insulin release. Only one preliminary report dealing with proinsulin synthesis and streptozotocin has appeared [30].