C o p y r i g h t 0 A P M I S 1 9 9 8Al%WUSl I S S N 0 9 0 3 -4 6 5 x I S B N 8 7-1 6 -I 6 3 3 0 -3 Journey beyond immunology. Regulation of receptor internalization by major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) and effect of peptides derived from MHC-I Chapter 1 substrate inhibition, as i) the peptide was not phosphorylated despite the presence of two tyrosines at the carboxylterminus, and ii) a recombinant, truncated form of the insulin receptor, consisting of only the tyrosine kinase domain of the intracellular part of the P-chain, was not affected by the peptide. The latter observation shows that the effect must occur through binding to the extracellular portion of the receptor. An interesting and novel observation was made using the peptide to inhibit full-length insulin receptor, in that this inhibited receptor could only become phosphorylated by the isolated tyrosine kinase domain if insulin was present. In other words, the fill-length receptor must undergo a ligand-induced conformational change resulting in exposure of phosphorylatable amino acid residues. Biologically sensible, of course, but difficult to prove without the selective, inhibitory activity of the MHC-I peptides.Covalent cross-linking of insulin has also been used to show that intermolecular phosphorylation does not activate the receptor tyrosine kinase (143), although some phosphorylation in trans may occur. In contrast, the EGF receptor is capable of transphosphorylation (144). A mutant insulin receptor (Phe382-Val) with normal insulin binding does not become kinase active after insulin stimulation, but is able to become phosphorylated by insulin-stimulated wild-type receptor, and apparently then becomes kinase active (145). This peculiar mutation in the a-subunit of the receptor must therefore disallow an insulin-triggered conformational change resulting in kinase activation, yet exhibit a conformation that allows phosphorylation of tyrosines and subsequent kinase activation (a rather convoluted hypothesis!). As we did not determine which residues of the MHC-I pep-J. Reiland and M. Edidin. Chemical cross-linking detects association of insulin receptors with four different class I human leukocyte antigen molecules on cell surfaces. Diabetes 42,619-25 (1993) T. Liegler, J. Alexander, P. Cresswell, I. Goldhe, and R. S. Goodenow. An analysis of insulin recptor expression and binding on MHC class I positive and negative human lymphoblastoid cells.