Glucose Sensing and Insulin Signalling Flashcards
What is the normal blood glucose concentration?
4-5 mM
At what blood glucose concentration does brain activity become compromised?
Below 1-2 mM, the brain cannot sustain its activity (glucose-dependent so glucose homeostasis very important for brain)
What happens if glucose concentration rises to 7-8 mM for an extended period of time?
. Proteins become glycated
. CNS and PNS nerve damage occurs
How can you monitor glycaemic control in Type 1 Diabetics?
Concentration of HbA1c (glycated haemoglobin) can be used as a measure of long-term glycaemic control
How many times does each channel protein (GLUT) span a membrane? What implications does this have?
12 times, which means that the cytoplasmic C and N termini are on the same side of the membrane (all GLUTs have same topology)
Where is GLUT1 found?
In RBCs and blood brain barrier
Where is GLUT2 found?
In the liver, pancreas, and intestines
Where is GLUT3 found?
In the brain, neurones, and sperm
Where is GLUT4 found?
In skeletal muscle, heart, and adipose
Which GLUT transporters are insulin-dependent? Which are insulin-independent?
GLUT1,2,3 are insulin-independent, GLUT4 is insulin-dependent
What is the role of the SGLT1 transporter? When do they take effect?
. Co-transporter in the small intestine involved in the co-transport of glucose with sodium, bringing glucose into cells of the s.intestine from the lumen against their concentration gradient
. Takes effect during fasting state when glucose concentration in lumen of intestine lower than that in the intestinal cells and blood
What is the role of the GLUT2 transporter in the small intestine?
. In the fed state, calcium ions enter cells of the small intestine, triggering GLUT2 to insert into the cell membranes
. GLUT2 has a high Km (low affinity for glucose), so only transports glucose when the concentration of glucose in the lumen is high (i.e. in the fed state)
. Glucose is transported into the intestinal cells via GLUT2 (before SGLT1 transporter needed when concentration gradient reversed in fasting state)
Which transporter do pancreatic β-cells have in their membrane?
GLUT2
Describe the role and functionality of glucokinase in pancreatic β-cells
. Not inhibited by its product (G6P) in β-cells, unlike in the liver
. High Km (low affinity) and not inhibited by G6P means that it can keep producing G6P
Describe how the entry of glucose into a pancreatic β-cell leads to insulin release.
. Glucose enters β-cell via GLUT2 transporter
. Glucokinase converts glucose to G6P (which goes on to yield ATP in glycolysis)
. High ATP:ADP ratio causes potassium ion channels in cell membrane to open and potassium ions diffuse out of cell down their concentration gradient
. This depolarises the cell membrane, triggering the opening of calcium ion channels
. Calcium ions diffuse into the β-cell, which stimulates the release of insulin-containing vesicles
What is the function of SUR1? Why is it clinically important?
. SUR1 is a chaperone protein that promotes the insertion of potassium ion channels into β-cell membranes
. SUR1 reduces the Km (increases affinity) of potassium ion channels for ATP, so that the potassium ion channels open at lower ATP concentrations
. This means that more potassium ions leave the cell, more depolarisataion occurs, more calcium ion channels open, more calcium ions enter the cell, and more insulin is released
. This is clinically important because many drugs target SUR1 (e.g. activate it more to increase insulin production and lower blood glucose)
Describe the structure of insulin.
. Polypeptide consisting of two chains (A and B), bound together by disulphide bridges (A chain also has disulphide bridge within its chain)
. Signal sequence present in chain
What is the purpose of the signal sequence in insulin?
. Allows insulin to bind to endoplasmic reticulum to be processed
. It is cut off in the ER as it has no other function beyond this point
Describe the structure of an insulin receptor.
. Consists of 4 subunits, 2 alpha (extracellular, ligand-binding) and 2 beta (embedded in membrane with tyrosine kinase activity)
. Two identical insulin binding sites (essentially a dimer) which can be activated by one insulin monomer
. Subunits linked by disulphide bridges
Where are insulin receptors present?
Present everywhere because used for effects beside lowering blood glucose e.g. pro-growth
Different numbers of receptors in different areas depending on necessity e.g. RBCs don’t have many but adipocytes and hepatocytes have lots
Why are diabetics advised to change the site of insulin injection from time to time?
. Insulin can promote cell division so if you inject it in the same place over a long period of time, there will be increased cell growth and a mass may arise
How are insulin receptors (IRs) activated? What happens to the beta-subunits where this activation occurs?
. Insulin binds to the alpha subunit (outside membrane) of IR, causing a conformational change on the beta subunit (embedded in membrane)
. Beta subunit tyrosine kinase domains transphosphorylate each other
What happens after the tyrosine kinase domains phosphorylate eachother?
. The tyrosine kinases act as docking sites for other proteins to bind to (e.g. IRS proteins and other proteins which all contain phosphotyrosine, which allows them to bind to TK)
. The proteins are phosphorylated
What is the point of IRS proteins binding to TK domains?
. Act as docking sites to bind to other proteins and enzymes (i.e. PI3 kinase or Grb2)
. Signal from the original binding of insulin to the IR is amplified
