Insulin action & insulin resistance // T2DM Flashcards
What are the cellular effects of insulin in terms of what insulin promotes ?
- Glycogen synthesis ( liver & muscle)
- Glucose uptake ( muscle& adipose)
- Fatty acid synthesis ( liver)
- DNA replication
- Gene expression ( also inhibitory)
- Protein synthesis
What are the inhibitory cellular effects of insulin
- Glycogenolysis ( liver & muscle)
- Lipolysis ( adipose)
- Cell apoptosis
- Gene expression ( also promoted)
Outline the mechanism of action of insulin
- Insulin binds the receptor
- The receptor is autophosphorylated
- IR catalyses tyrosine phosophorylation of insulin receptor substrates IRS
- IRS-1 activates several signalling pathways
What is the PI3-K pathway involved in?
The phosphatidyl inositol 3 OH kinase pathway is involved in protein, carbohydrate & fat metabolism
What is the MAP pathway involved in
The Mitogen activated protein kinase pathway is involved in cell growth & differentiation through ras
What is the function of ras proteins
- Ras proteins function as binary molecular switches that control intracellular signaling networks.
- Ras-regulated signal pathways control such processes as actin cytoskeletal integrity, cell proliferation, cell differentiation, cell adhesion, apoptosis, and cell migration
Outline what happens after IRS-1 binding & phosphorylation & subsequent activation of PI3-K
- An increase in the glucose transporter (Glut 4) molecules on the plasma membrane of insulin-sensitive tissues eg muscle & adipose tissuse
- Glut 4 is transporter from cellular vesicles to the cell surface
- This leads to increased uptake of glucose from blood
What can premature activation of protein kinase B lead to ?
Insulin resistance
Explain how Akt/PKB is activated
- Activation of AKT/ protein kinase B follows the binding of insulin to its receptor
- IRS bind the phosphorylated receptor with their SH2( src homology) domain& are themselves phosphorylated & activated
- The phosphorylated IRS phosphorylates and activates PI3-Kinase
- Which is attracted to the membrane by virtue of its PH (pleckstrin homology) domain
What is the difference between the whereabouts of GLUT4 transporters in the presence of insulin compared to in the absence of insulin?
- GLUT4 transporters are in vesicles in the interior of the cell in the absence of insulin
- In the presence of insulin the vesicles take the transporters to the plasma membrane
Explain the effect of insulin on gene expression through RAS & MAPK
- The adaptor protein SHC docks at the phosphorylated tyrosine furthest away from the membrane
- It activates the anchored protein Ras by phosphorylation
- There follows a cascade of ras phosphorylating & activating raf
- This then phosphorylates & activates MEK kinase
- Which phosphorylates & activates MAPK
- Which phosphorylates specific transcription factors
- Leading to effects on gene expression & cell differentiation & proliferation
What is ras
- An oncogene product, a small GTPase
- It is a signal transduction protein
- It activates a number of pathways
- MAP kinase pathways are particularly important
Outline the termination of the insulin signal
- Sustained insulin action would be detrimental to the system
- A number of mechanisms to end the signalling
- Protein phosphatases & phosphoinositide phosphatases inhibit at several points in the signalling pathway
- Phosphorylation of IRS on serine/threonine sites is another mechanism for switching off
- Emerging as an important link in the aetiology of insulin resistance
Explain insulin resistance and the consequences of it
- Condition in which normal amounts of insulin are inadequate to maintain normal concentrations of blood glucose
- Both insulin & glucose are high
- Often associated with obesity
- Reduces glucose uptake in muscle cells so reduces glycogen synthesis and storage
- In liver cells it reduces glycogen storage
- Both result in a high conc of glucose
- High plasma levels of insulin and glucose due to insulin resistance often leads to metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes
- In fat cells it reduces the effects of insulin
- Results in lipolysis & increased FA conc. in the blood
What are the causes of insulin resistance
- Insulin receptors are down regulated because of the high conc. of circulating insulin
- Interference with the signalling pathway
- Inflammation also contributes to insulin resistance
- (possible hypothesis) a number of these adipose tissue produced hormones & metabolites may inhibit IRS activation
- The switching off mechanisms may be activated