Insulin receptors on Xenopus laevis oocytes: effects of injection of ob/ob mouse liver mRNA.

We describe here conditions for the detection of insulin binding sites on Xenopus laevis oocytes. The binding of 125I-labelled insulin displayed sigmoidal behaviour, which is characteristic of the binding relationship between insulin and its receptor. Resolution of the resulting curvilinear Scatchard plot into two components revealed KD values of 8.86 x 10(-10) +/- 1.9 x 10(-10) and 5.32 x 10(-9) +/- 2.4 x 10(-9) M and n values of 9.7 x 10(7) +/- 0.4 x 10(7) and 3.3 x 10(8) +/- 0.5 x 10(8) binding sites per oocyte, respectively. The possibility cannot be excluded, however, that receptors for IGF-1 were also being detected. Also described are conditions for the rapid and efficient removal of all tissues surrounding the oocyte, including the vitelline membrane. We could not detect any specific 125I-labelled insulin binding to oocytes that had their follicle cells or vitelline membrane removed and this was not due to the enzymic treatment used in the process. Microinjection of oocytes without follicular layers did not result in the appearance of any detectable insulin binding sites, which were, however, observed if oocytes were first stripped of the vitelline membrane. We suggest that oocytes may possess endogenous insulin receptors on their surface in numbers of the same order of magnitude as those present on somatic cells. The removal of tissues surrounding the oocyte should facilitate studies aimed at determining functional interactions of the various cell types during oocyte development and for studying insulin receptors on the oocyte-follicular cell complex.