Serine and threonine phosphorylation of IRS-1 (insulin receptor substrate-1) has been reported to decrease its ability to be tyrosine-phosphorylated by the insulin receptor. Insulin itself may negatively regulate tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1 through a PI3K (phosphoinositide 3-kinase)-dependent feedback pathway. In the present study, we examined the regulation and role of IRS-1 serine phosphorylation in the modulation of IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation in physiologically relevant cells, namely freshly isolated primary adipocytes. We show that insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of Ser312 and Ser616 in IRS-1 was relatively slow, with maximal phosphorylation achieved after 20 and 5 min respectively. The effect of insulin on phosphorylation of both these sites required the activation of PI3K and the MAPKs (mitogen-activated protein kinases) ERK1/2 (extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2), but not the activation of mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin)/p70S6 kinase, JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase) or p38MAPK. Although inhibition of PI3K and ERK1/2 both substantially decreased insulin-stimulated phosphorylation of Ser312 and Ser616, only wortmannin enhanced insulin-stimulated tyrosine phosphorylation of IRS-1. Furthermore, inhibition of mTOR/p70S6 kinase, JNK or p38MAPK had no effect on insulin-stimulated IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation. The differential effect of inhibition of ERK1/2 on insulin-stimulated IRS-1 phosphorylation of Ser312/Ser616 and tyrosine indicates that these events are independent of each other and that phosphorylation of Ser312/Ser616 is not responsible for the negative regulation of IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation mediated by PI3K in primary adipocytes.