In differentiated 3T3-F442A adipocytes, insulin stimulated rapid and transient phosphorylation of c-Jun. Insulin also stimulated phosphorylation of c-Fos and several Fos-related proteins (pp72, pp45, and pp39) as indicated by precipitation with anti-c-Fos antibody following exposure to denaturating conditions. Phosphorylation of c-Fos was stimulated by 7-fold by 60 min, while phosphorylation of Fos-related proteins reached maxima of 3.5-5.5-fold at 15 to 60 min. The increase in phosphorylated c-Fos was due to an increase in both c-Fos protein and the stoichiometry of c-Fos phosphorylation, and was not observed in c-fos (-/-) cells. Additionally, insulin stimulated phosphorylation of a protein with molecular mass of approximately 82 kDa on tyrosine residues by 2.5-fold within 30 min; this protein appeared to be immunologically related to c-Fos. These increases in the phosphorylation of AP-1 transcription factors correlated with a > 5-fold stimulation of expression of a 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-responsive element-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene transiently transfected into 3T3-F442A cells. These results indicate that insulin stimulates the phosphorylation of AP-1 transcription factors and several Fos-related proteins on serine and tyrosine residues. This is associated with changes in AP-1-mediated gene expression in vivo, suggesting that AP-1 phosphorylation by insulin plays a role in insulin-regulated gene expression.