Insulin, mature form with disulfide-bridge linked chains
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In other tissues the signal substance insulin is bound to insulin receptors. The insulin receptor is a tetramer (alpha2/beta2) with the alpha subunits being located at the cell surface. The beta subunits span the cytoplasmic membrane and contain a cytoplasmic domain
A regulation scheme as complex as this is prone to failure. The disease associated with the lack of the signalling function of insulin is diabetes in various forms depending on the kind of failure. It affects ~5% of the population. Type 1 diabetes descibes a lack of insulin production due to autoimmune destruction of the producing cells. Insulin has to be supplied exogeneously by injection to keep the regulation of glucose metabolism balanced. In type 2 diabetes (non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, NIDDM) the receptors no longer respond properly to the presence of insulin.
In an effort to ease the treatment of diabetes, upon screening >50 000 mixtures of various origins a substance was found, which stimulated the kinase activity of the insulin receptor in the absence of insulin. This substance
Several experimental results indicate that L-738,281 circumvents the signalling mechanism within the insulin receptor by directly interacting with the kinase domain. It seems by binding to the protein to alter the conformation near Lys1030
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7-99 - R Bergmann