Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P01275 (glucagon)
 26,492 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Insulin and glucagon regulate the expression and/or activity of a variety of proteins to maintain blood glucose within normal limits. A key target is the gene encoding phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), which catalyzes the first committed step in hepatic gluconeogenesis. Acute regulation of PEPCK is achieved by modulating transcription of the gene, which is tightly regulated by cAMP (the mediator of glucagon and catecholamines), glucocorticoids and insulin. Normally, PEPCK expression is induced by glucagon, catecholamines and glucocorticoids during periods of fasting and in response to stress, but is dominantly inhibited by glucose-induced increases in insulin secretion upon feeding. The incomplete effectiveness of insulin action, whether due to intermittent insulin injection in type I diabetics or insulin resistance in type II diabetics, contributes to hyperglycemia and complications, resulting in damage to the eyes, nerves, kidneys and other organs over time. Thus, defining a molecular mechanism for insulin inhibition of PEPCK gene transcription has been a major goal of research in several labs, because it would allow the development of drugs to prevent episodic increases in circulating glucose in diabetics. Here, we review the main lines of investigation into this complex problem and the likely properties of an inhibitor. Any mechanism must account for the rapidity, specificity and dominance with which insulin is known to act in regulating PEPCK transcription. To date Foxo1 (FKHR) is the only transcription factor for which a complete path from the insulin receptor to gene regulation has been described. While this explains the regulation of some genes, such as IGFBP-1, Foxo1 appears not to play a requisite role in regulating PEPCK transcription. Investigation of cis-acting elements in the PEPCK promoter has shed considerable light on the mechanisms of activation by cAMP and glucocorticoids but has failed to identify a regulatory element that mediates insulin inhibition of transcription. This, together with evidence from analysis of the inducing mechanisms, has prompted us, and others, to investigate the possibility that insulin disrupts activation rather than independently promoting repression. Thus, we hypothesize that insulin-induced modification of a key transcription regulatory protein prevents an essential factor from participating in the induction process, leading to rapid but reversible inhibition, as is seen in animals. The ability to alter the sensitivity of a key transcription factor to improve insulin-regulated control of blood glucose would be a major improvement in the treatment of diabetes, a growing problem in the industrialized world.
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PMID:Insulin regulation of PEPCK gene expression: a model for rapid and reversible modulation. 1637 95

Glucose regulates pancreatic islet alpha-cell glucagon secretion directly by its metabolism to generate ATP in alpha-cells, and indirectly via stimulation of paracrine release of beta-cell secretory products, particularly insulin. How the cellular substrates of these pathways converge in the alpha-cell is not well known. We recently reported the use of the MIP-GFP (mouse insulin promoter-green fluorescent protein) mouse to reliably identify islet alpha- (non-green cells) and beta-cells (green cells), and characterized their ATP-sensitive K(+) (K(ATP)) channel properties, showing that alpha-cell K(ATP) channels exhibited a 5-fold higher sensitivity to ATP inhibition than beta-cell K(ATP) channels. Here, we show that insulin exerted paracrine regulation of alpha-cells by markedly reducing the sensitivity of alpha-cell K(ATP) channels to ATP (IC(50) = 0.18 and 0.50 mM in absence and presence of insulin, respectively). Insulin also desensitized beta-cell K(ATP) channels to ATP inhibition (IC(50) = 0.84 and 1.23 mM in absence and presence of insulin, respectively). Insulin effects on both islet cell K(ATP) channels were blocked by wortmannin, indicating that insulin acted on the insulin receptor-phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling pathway. Insulin did not affect alpha-cell A-type K(+) currents. Glutamate, known to also inhibit alpha-cell glucagon secretion, did not activate alpha-cell K(ATP) channel opening. We conclude that a major mechanism by which insulin exerts paracrine control on alpha-cells is by modulating its K(ATP) channel sensitivity to ATP block. This may be an underlying basis for the proposed sequential glucose-insulin regulation of alpha-cell glucagon secretion, which becomes distorted in diabetes, leading to dysregulated glucagon secretion.
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PMID:Insulin regulates islet alpha-cell function by reducing KATP channel sensitivity to adenosine 5'-triphosphate inhibition. 1645 78

Perturbations in endocrine functions can impact normal growth. Endocrine traits were studied in three dwarf calves exhibiting retarded but proportionate growth and four phenotypically normal half-siblings, sired by the same bull, and four unrelated control calves. Plasma 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine and thyroxine concentrations in dwarfs and half-siblings were in the physiological range and responded normally to injected thyroid-releasing hormone. Plasma glucagon concentrations were different (dwarfs, controls>half-siblings; P<0.05). Plasma growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and insulin concentrations in the three groups during an 8-h period were similar, but integrated GH concentrations (areas under concentration curves) were different (dwarfs>controls, P<0.02; half-siblings>controls, P=0.08). Responses of GH to xylazine and to a GH-releasing-factor analogue were similar in dwarfs and half-siblings. Relative gene expression of IGF-1, IGF-2, GH receptor (GHR), insulin receptor, IGF-1 type-1 and -2 receptors (IGF-1R, IGF-2R), and IGF binding proteins were measured in liver and anconeus muscle. GHR mRNA levels were different in liver (dwarfs<controls, P<0.002; dwarfs<half-siblings, P=0.06; half-siblings<controls, P=0.08) but not in muscle. IGF-1R mRNA abundance in liver in half-siblings and controls was 2.4- and 2.5-fold higher (P=0.003 and P=0.001, respectively) and in muscle tissue was 2.3- and 1.8-fold higher (P=0.01 and P=0.08, respectively) than in dwarfs. Hepatic IGF-1R protein levels (Western blots) in muscle were 2.5-fold higher (P<0.05) and in liver and muscle (quantitative immunohistochemistry) were higher (P<0.02 and P<0.07, respectively) in half-siblings than in dwarfs. The reduced presence of IGF-1R may have been the underlying cause of dwarfism in studied calves.
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PMID:Insulin-like growth factor type-1 receptor down-regulation associated with dwarfism in Holstein calves. 1682 14

A 60-year-old woman presented to her primary care physician with fatigue and anemia. Laboratory evaluation revealed a hemoglobin level of 9.8 g/dL and an erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) of 64 mm/hour. She subsequently developed nocturnal episodes of diaphoresis, confusion, and hypothermia. Capillary glucose measurements during the spells revealed hypoglycemia. During two supervised fasts, the patient's plasma glucose levels fell to 35 mg/dL and 32 mg/dL, respectively. Plasma insulin and C-peptide levels were appropriately suppressed, but a low concentration of beta-hydroxy-butyrate and normal increase of plasma glucose concentration after a glucagon injection suggested the presence of an insulin-like substance. Computed tomographic (CT) scan of the abdomen and subsequent positron emission tomographic (PET) scan revealed extensive lymphadenopathy. Biopsy of periaortic lymph nodes revealed Hodgkin's disease of the mixed cellularity type. Following chemotherapy, a complete remission ensued, the spells abated, and hypoglycemia was not induced by a 23-hour fast. We believe that the patient's Hodgkin's disease was producing an insulin-like substance. The observations of others suggest that this substance may be an autoantibody to the insulin receptor.
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PMID:Recurrent hypoglycemia and hypothermia in a patient with Hodgkin's disease. 1719 56

Current strategies to treat type 2 diabetes (DMT2) include reducing insulin resistance using glitazones, supplementing with exogenous insulin, increasing endogenous insulin production with sulfonylureas and meglitinides, reducing hepatic glucose production through biguanides, and limiting postprandial glucose absorption with alpha-glucosidase inhibitors. In all of these areas, new generations of molecules with improved efficacy and safety profiles, are being investigated. Promising biological targets are rapidly emerging such as the role of lipotoxicity as a cause of glucometabolic insulin resistance, leading to a host of new molecular drug targets such as AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activators, recombinant adiponectin derivatives, and fatty acid synthase (FAS) inhibitors. Insulin action can be enhanced in muscle, liver and fat, with small-molecule activators of the insulin receptor or inhibitors of protein tyrosine phosphatase (FTP)-IB. Defective glucose-stimulated insulin secretion by pancreatic B-cells could be alleviated with recombinant glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) or agonists to the GLP-1 receptor. This review presents a new approach for obesity and DMT2 drug discovery through pharmacogenomics. Several compounds have already been validated through genetic engineering in animal models or the preliminary use of therapeutic compounds in humans.
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PMID:[Molecular targets for new drug discovery to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity]. 1848 61

In order to evaluate the role of insulin in chicken, an insulin immuno-neutralization was performed. Fed chickens received 1 or 3 i.v. injections of anti-insulin serum (2-h intervals), while fed or fasted controls received normal serum. Measurements included insulin signaling cascade (at 1 h in liver and muscle), metabolic or endocrine plasma parameters (at 1 and 5 h), and qRT-PCR analysis (at 5 h) of 23 genes involved in endocrine regulation, metabolisms, and transcription. Most plasma parameters and food intake were altered by insulin privation as early as 1 h and largely at 5 h. The initial steps of insulin signaling pathways including insulin receptor (IR), IR substrate-1 (IRS-1), and Src homology collagen and downstream elements: phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), Akt, GSK3, ERK2, and S6 ribosomal protein) were accordingly turned off in the liver. In the muscle, IR, IRS-1 tyrosine phosphorylation, and PI3K activity remained unchanged, whereas several subsequent steps were altered by insulin privation. In both tissues, AMPK was not altered. In the liver, insulin privation decreased Egr1, PPAR gamma, SREBP1, THRSP alpha (spot 14), D2-deiodinase, glucokinase (GK), and fatty acid synthase (whereas D3-deiodinase and IGF-binding protein 1 transcripts were up-regulated. Liver SREBP1 and GK and plasma IGFBP1 proteins were accordingly down- and up-regulated. In the muscle, PPAR beta delta and atrogin-1 mRNA increased and Egr1 mRNA decreased. Changes in messengers were partly mimicked by fasting. Thus, insulin signaling in muscle is peculiar in chicken and is strictly dependent on insulin in fed status. The 'diabetic' status induced by insulin immuno-neutralization is accompanied by impairments of glucagon secretion, thyroid axis, and expression of several genes involved in regulatory pathways or metabolisms, evidencing pleiotropic effects of insulin in fed chicken.
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PMID:Insulin immuno-neutralization in chicken: effects on insulin signaling and gene expression in liver and muscle. 1849 18

The hypervariable (Vbeta/D/Jbeta) regions of T-cell receptors (TCR) have been sequenced in a variety of autoimmune diseases by various investigators. An analysis of some of these sequences shows that TCR from both human diabetics and NOD mice mimic insulin, glucagon, the insulin receptor, and the glucagon receptor. Such similarities are not found in the TCR produced in other human autoimmune diseases. These data may explain how insulin, glucagon, and their receptors are targets of autoimmunity in diabetes and also suggest that TCR mimicking insulin and its receptor may be targets of anti-insulin autoantibodies. Such intra-systemic mimicry of self-proteins also raises complex questions about how "self" and "nonself" are regulated during TCR production, especially in light of the complementarity of insulin for its receptor and glucagon for its receptor. The data presented here suggest that some TCR may be complementary to other TCR in autoimmune diseases, a possibility that is experimentally testable. Such complementarity, if it exists, could either serve to down-regulate the clones bearing such TCR or, alternatively, trigger an intra-immune system civil war between them.
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PMID:Autoreactive T-cell receptor (Vbeta/D/Jbeta) sequences in diabetes are homologous to insulin, glucagon, the insulin receptor, and the glucagon receptor. 1905 Dec 6

Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) is not only a disorder of impaired insulin secretion but also glucagon oversecretion. However, the link between the two remains unclear. Is it possible that the latter is a consequence of the former? In this issue, Kawamori et al. (2009) have addressed this question by generating alpha cell-specific insulin receptor knockout mice.
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PMID:The insulin receptor talks to glucagon? 1935 16

Glucagon plays an important role in glucose homeostasis by regulating hepatic glucose output in both normo- and hypoglycemic conditions. In this study, we created and characterized alpha cell-specific insulin receptor knockout (alphaIRKO) mice to directly explore the role of insulin signaling in the regulation of glucagon secretion in vivo. Adult male alphaIRKO mice exhibited mild glucose intolerance, hyperglycemia, and hyperglucagonemia in the fed state and enhanced glucagon secretion in response to L-arginine stimulation. Hyperinsulinemic-hypoglycemic clamp studies revealed an enhanced glucagon secretory response and an abnormal norepinephrine response to hypoglycemia in alphaIRKO mice. The mutants also exhibited an age-dependent increase in beta cell mass. Furthermore, siRNA-mediated knockdown of insulin receptor in glucagon-secreting InR1G cells promoted enhanced glucagon secretion and complemented our in vivo findings. Together, these data indicate a significant role for intraislet insulin signaling in the regulation of alpha cell function in both normo- and hypoglycemic conditions.
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PMID:Insulin signaling in alpha cells modulates glucagon secretion in vivo. 1935 9

Insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) is a neutral thiol metalloprotease, which cleaves insulin with high specificity. Additionally, IDE hydrolyzes Abeta, glucagon, IGF I and II, and beta-endorphin. We studied the expression of IDE protein in postmortem brains of patients with schizophrenia and controls because: (1) the gene encoding IDE is located on chromosome 10q23-q25, a gene locus linked to schizophrenia; (2) insulin resistance with brain insulin receptor deficits/receptor dysfunction was reported in schizophrenia; (3) the enzyme cleaves IGF-I and IGF-II which are implicated in the pathophysiology of the disease; and (4) brain gamma-endorphin levels, liberated from beta-endorphin exclusively by IDE, have been reported to be altered in schizophrenia. We counted the number of IDE immunoreactive neurons in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the hypothalamic paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei, and the basal nucleus of Meynert of 14 patients with schizophrenia and 14 matched control cases. Patients had long-term haloperidol treatment. In addition, relative concentrations of IDE protein in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were estimated by Western blot analysis. There was a significantly reduced number of IDE expressing neurons and IDE protein content in the left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia compared with controls, but not in other brain areas investigated. Results of our studies on the influence of haloperidol on IDE mRNA expression in SHSY5Y neuroblastoma cells, as well as the effect of long-term treatment with haloperidol on the number of IDE immunoreactive neurons in rat brain, indicate that haloperidol per se, is not responsible for the decreased neuronal expression of the enzyme in schizophrenics. Haloperidol however, might exert some effect on IDE, through changes of the expression levels of its substrates IGF-I and II, insulin and beta-endorphin. Reduced cortical IDE expression might be part of the disturbed insulin signaling cascades found in schizophrenia. Furthermore, it might contribute to the altered metabolism of certain neuropeptides (IGF-I and IGF-II, beta-endorphin), in schizophrenia.
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PMID:Reduced neuronal expression of insulin-degrading enzyme in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of patients with haloperidol-treated, chronic schizophrenia. 2187 64


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