Activity of the sympathetic nervous system is an important factor involved in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and associated metabolic and vascular abnormalities. In this study, we investigate the molecular basis of cross-talk between  3 -adrenergic and insulin signaling systems in mouse brown adipocytes immortalized by SV40 T infection. Insulin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor, insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1), and IRS-2 was reduced by prestimulation of  3 -adrenergic receptors (CL316243). Similarly, insulin-induced IRS-1-associated and phosphotyrosineassociated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase) activity, but not IRS-2-associated PI 3-kinase activity, was reduced by  3 -adrenergic prestimulation. Furthermore, insulin-stimulated activation of Akt, but not mitogen-activated protein kinase, was diminished. Insulininduced glucose uptake was completely inhibited by  3 -adrenergic prestimulation. These effects appear to be protein kinase A-dependent. Furthermore inhibition of protein kinase C restored the  3 -receptor-mediated reductions in insulin-induced IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation and IRS-1-associated PI 3-kinase activity. Together, these findings indicate cross-talk between adrenergic and insulin signaling pathways. This interaction is protein kinase A-dependent and, at least in part, protein kinase C-dependent, and could play an important role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance associated with sympathetic overactivity and regulation of brown fat metabolism.The sympathetic nervous system has long been recognized to play an important role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and associated metabolic and vascular abnormalities, such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, dyslipidemia, and hypertension (for a recent review see Ref. 1). At a molecular level, insulin has been shown to phosphorylate tyrosyl residues in the C terminus of the  2 -adrenergic receptor (2), whereas -adrenergic stimulation can inhibit the activation of the insulin receptor in some tissues (3-7). However, the potential molecular mechanisms downstream of these interactions and their effects remain poorly elucidated.To investigate the cross-talk between the insulin and adrenergic signaling systems, we have utilized brown adipocytes. These provide an attractive cell model for several reasons. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) 1 is highly regulated by the sympathetic nervous system and expresses different subtypes of adrenergic receptors (8 -10), including the  3 -adrenergic receptor, a potential target for anti-obesity and anti-diabetic drug therapy (11,12). BAT is important in controlling energy balance in rodents by its capacity to uncouple mitochondrial respiration, a process mediated by the expression of the uncoupling protein-1 (UCP-1) (for recent review see Ref. 13 and references therein). And finally, BAT is an insulin-sensitive tissue and contains the main elements of the insulin signaling system (14 -17). Thus, in the cells binding of insulin to its receptor leads to activation of the r...