The relationship between cAMP-dependent protein kinase (A-kinase) activity ratios and lipolysis in the presence of insulin was compared to the standard relationship between these two parameters established with a variety of adenylate cyclase modulators (Honnor, R. C., Dhillon, G., and Londos, C. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 15130-15138). Three phases of insulin action were observed. First, when tested in control cells exhibiting A-kinase activity ratios up to approximately 0.25, insulin inhibition of lipolysis could be accounted for by the decrease in A-kinase activity. Second, in cells exhibiting A-kinase activity ratios greater than 0.3, the decrease in kinase activity by insulin did not account for the decrease in lipolysis. Finally, as the A-kinase activity ratio approached 0.6 the insulin effect on lipolysis was lost. The data suggest that protein phosphatase activation accounts for the cAMP-independent insulin action. Moreover, the insulin effect not accounted for by a decrease in A-kinase activity appears to be elicited only upon elevation of A-kinase activity. The method by which cells were stimulated determined the IC50 for insulin inhibition of: 1) A-kinase activity ratios, 2) lipolysis explained by the decrease in A-kinase activity ratios, and 3) lipolysis not explained by a decrease in A-kinase activity ratios. For all three parameters, cells stimulated by lipolytic hormones were approximately 5 times more sensitive to insulin than cells stimulated by incubation in a ligand-free environment achieved with adenosine deaminase; insulin IC50 values were approximately 120 and 600 pM, respectively. Such data establish a link between insulin actions in modifying cAMP concentrations and in modifying events apparently independent of changes in cAMP. It is proposed that the receptors and regulatory components associated with adipocyte adenylate cyclase are associated also with components of the insulin response system separate from cyclase.