Evidence for a direct effect of bacitracin on cell-mediated insulin degradation in isolated hepatocytes

Abstract
In freshly isolated [rat] hepatocytes, in which extracellular degradation of insuln was very low, the degradation velocity was 1st-order with respect to the amount of insulin bound at steady state. The addition of bacitracin decreased the degradation velocity considerably, so that a higher proportion of cell-associated radioactivity remained intact. Bacitracin apparently affects the mechanism of insulin processing by intact hepatocytes.