IRS-1 (insulin receptor substrate-1) is a major substrate of the insulin receptor. Rat and human IRS-1 cDNAs, and human and mouse IRS-1 genes have been cloned so far. They show high homology in nucleic acids and amino acids levels, which indicate the high conservation of IRS-1 across the species. Interestingly, the entire coding region is contained in the 1st exon in the IRS-1 gene. The promoter of the mouse IRS-1 gene lacks TATA and CAAT boxes but contains 9 potential Spl binding sites, indicating that IRS-1 is a "housekeeping" gene. By deletion analysis, two positively and two negatively regulating fragments are identified in the promoter. In cultured adipocytes, insulin and dexamethasone down regulate IRS-1 expression by different mechanisms. Insulin down regulates at the post-translational level by shortening the protein half life, and dexamethasone down regulates at the post-transcriptional level mainly by shortening the mRNA half life.