Insulin is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the INS gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and protein by promoting the absorption of glucose from the blood into liver, fat and skeletal muscle cells. In these tissues the absorbed glucose is converted into either glycogen via glycogenesis or fats (triglycerides) via lipogenesis, or, in the case of the liver, into both. Glucose production and secretion by the liver is strongly inhibited by high concentrations of insulin in the blood. Circulating insulin also affects the synthesis of proteins in a wide variety of tissues. It is therefore an anabolic hormone, promoting the conversion of small molecules in the blood into large molecules inside the cells. Low insulin levels in the blood have the opposite effect by promoting widespread catabolism, especially of reserve body fat.
Insulin resistance (IR) is a pathological condition in which cells fail to respond normally to the hormone insulin.
Beta cells (β-cells) are a type of cell found in pancreatic islets that synthesize and secrete insulin and amylin. Beta cells make up 50–70% of the cells in human islets. In patients with Type 1 diabetes, beta-cell mass and function are diminished, leading to insufficient insulin secretion and hyperglycemia.
Alpha cells are endocrine cells that are found in the Islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. Alpha cells secrete the peptide hormone glucagon in order to increase glucose levels in the blood stream.
Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), also known as Gastric inhibitory polypeptide or gastric inhibitory peptide, is an inhibiting hormone of the secretin family of hormones. While it is a weak inhibitor of gastric acid secretion, its main role is to stimulate insulin secretion.
Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as bright eyes, Cape periwinkle, graveyard plant, Madagascar periwinkle, old maid, pink periwinkle, rose periwinkle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae. It is native and endemic to Madagascar, but grown elsewhere as an ornamental and medicinal plant. It is a source of the drugs vincristine and vinblastine, used to treat cancer. It was formerly included in the genus Vinca as Vinca rosea.
Glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4), also known as solute carrier family 2, facilitated glucose transporter member 4, is a protein encoded, in humans, by the SLC2A4 gene. GLUT4 is the insulin-regulated glucose transporter found primarily in adipose tissues and striated muscle. The first evidence for this distinct glucose transport protein was provided by David James in 1988. The gene that encodes GLUT4 was cloned and mapped in 1989.
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a 30- or 31-amino-acid-long peptide hormone deriving from the tissue-specific posttranslational processing of the proglucagon peptide. It is produced and secreted by intestinal enteroendocrine L-cells and certain neurons within the nucleus of the solitary tract in the brainstem upon food consumption. The initial product GLP-1 (1–37) is susceptible to amidation and proteolytic cleavage, which gives rise to the two truncated and equipotent biologically active forms, GLP-1 (7–36) amide and GLP-1 (7–37). Active GLP-1 protein secondary structure includes two α-helices from amino acid position 13–20 and 24–35 separated by a linker region.
Enteroendocrine cells are specialized cells of the gastrointestinal tract and pancreas with endocrine function. They produce gastrointestinal hormones or peptides in response to various stimuli and release them into the bloodstream for systemic effect, diffuse them as local messengers, or transmit them to the enteric nervous system to activate nervous responses. Enteroendocrine cells of the intestine are the most numerous endocrine cells of the body. They constitute an enteric endocrine system as a subset of the endocrine system just as the enteric nervous system is a subset of the nervous system. In a sense they are known to act as chemoreceptors, initiating digestive actions and detecting harmful substances and initiating protective responses. Enteroendocrine cells are located in the stomach, in the intestine and in the pancreas. Microbiota plays key roles in the intestinal immune and metabolic responses in these enteroendocrine cells via their fermentation product, acetate.
Nuciferine is an alkaloid found within the plants Nymphaea caerulea and Nelumbo nucifera.
Syntaxin-4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the STX4 gene.
The muscarinic acetylcholine receptor, also known as cholinergic/acetylcholine receptor M3, or the muscarinic 3, is a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor encoded by the human gene CHRM3.
Rap guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) 4 (RAPGEF4), also known as exchange protein directly activated by cAMP 2 (EPAC2) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the RAPGEF4 gene.
The mitochondrial dicarboxylate carrier (DIC) is an integral membrane protein encoded by the SLC25A10 gene in humans that catalyzes the transport of dicarboxylates such as malonate, malate, and succinate across the inner mitochondrial membrane in exchange for phosphate, sulfate, and thiosulfate by a simultaneous antiport mechanism, thus supplying substrates for the Krebs cycle, gluconeogenesis, urea synthesis, fatty acid synthesis, and sulfur metabolism.
Ibutamoren (INN) is a potent, long-acting, orally-active, selective, and non-peptide agonist of the ghrelin receptor and a growth hormone secretagogue, mimicking the growth hormone (GH)-stimulating action of the endogenous hormone ghrelin. It has been shown to increase the secretion of several hormones including GH and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and produces sustained increases in the plasma levels of these hormones without affecting cortisol levels.
Dauricine is a plant metabolite, chemically classified as a phenol, an aromatic ether, and an isoquinoline alkaloid. It has been isolated from the Asian vine Menispermum dauricum, commonly known as Asian moonseed, and the North American vine Menispermum canadense, commonly known as Canadian moonseed. Scientists Tetsuji Kametani and Keiichiro Fukumoto of Japan are credited with being the first to synthesize dauricine in 1964, using both the Arndt-Eistert reaction and Bischler-Napieralski reaction to do so. Dauricine has been studied in vitro for its potential to inhibit cancer cell growth and to block cardiac transmembrane Na+, K+, and Ca2+ ion currents.
(S)-Canadine, also known as (S)-tetrahydroberberine and xanthopuccine, is a benzylisoquinoline alkaloid (BIA), of the protoberberine structural subgroup, and is present in many plants from the family Papaveraceae, such as Corydalis yanhusuo and C. turtschaninovii.
Pyruvate cycling commonly refers to an intracellular loop of spatial movements and chemical transformations involving pyruvate. Spatial movements occur between mitochondria and cytosol and chemical transformations create various Krebs cycle intermediates. In all variants, pyruvate is imported into the mitochondrion for processing through part of the Krebs cycle. In addition to pyruvate, alpha-ketoglutarate may also be imported. At various points, the intermediate product is exported to the cytosol for additional transformations and then re-imported. Three specific pyruvate cycles are generally considered, each named for the principal molecule exported from the mitochondrion: malate, citrate, and isocitrate. Other variants may exist, such as dissipative or "futile" pyruvate cycles.
Interleukin 23 (IL-23) is a heterodimeric cytokine composed of an IL-12B (IL-12p40) subunit and an IL-23A (IL-23p19) subunit. IL-23 is part of the IL-12 family of cytokines. The functional receptor for IL-23 consists of a heterodimer between IL-12Rβ1 and IL-23R.
Akuammicine is a monoterpene indole alkaloid of the Vinca sub-group. It is found in the Apocynaceae family of plants including Picralima nitida, Vinca minor and the Aspidosperma.
