Researchers are studying chemical processes in nature to develop new, cleaner means of chemical production and computers that can communicate with the human body.
Biochemistry
Sep 6, 2024
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8
The first crystal structure of an alternative DNA shape from the insulin gene has been revealed by a UCL-led research team.
Molecular & Computational biology
Sep 6, 2024
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101
Amyloids are protein aggregates that can form in the body, sometimes leading to diseases such as Alzheimer's. These fibrils can adopt multiple shapes, known as "polymorphs," which complicate our understanding of their role ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jul 16, 2024
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0
Up to 3% of people with diabetes have an allergic reaction to insulin. A team at Forschungszentrum Jülich has now studied a method that could be used to deliver the active substance into the body in a masked form—in the ...
Bio & Medicine
Jul 10, 2024
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31
An international team, led by researchers from Australia, have developed a system using nanotechnology that could allow people with diabetes to take oral insulin in the future. The researchers say the new insulin could be ...
Bio & Medicine
May 4, 2024
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75
An unassuming brown bovine from the south of Brazil has made history as the first transgenic cow capable of producing human insulin in her milk. The advancement, led by researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ...
Biotechnology
Mar 13, 2024
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70
The trillions of bacteria that call your body home—collectively known as the microbiome—appear to be unique to you, like a fingerprint. That's one conclusion of a detailed study of the gut, mouth, nose and skin microbiomes ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 12, 2024
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236
Observing cell proliferation in living animals for a long period requires collecting and analyzing animal organs at multiple points in time. This cumbersome process requires an abundance of resources, including animals.
Cell & Microbiology
Dec 14, 2023
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1
A study published in Nature Nanotechnology shows how nanoclusters of insulin can control insulin activity. The results can lead to new types of insulin drugs, senior author Ana Teixeira at the Department of Medical Biochemistry ...
Bio & Medicine
Oct 10, 2023
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5
For diabetes patients who must give themselves frequent insulin injections, the risk of low blood sugar can be life-threatening. A potential solution is a type of engineered insulin that circulates in the body and springs ...
Biochemistry
Sep 20, 2023
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1
More reference expression data
Insulin is a hormone that has extensive effects on metabolism and other body functions, such as vascular compliance. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle, and stopping use of fat as an energy source. When insulin is absent (or low), glucose is not taken up by body cells, and the body begins to use fat as an energy source, for example, by transfer of lipids from adipose tissue to the liver for mobilization as an energy source. As its level is a central metabolic control mechanism, its status is also used as a control signal to other body systems (such as amino acid uptake by body cells). It has several other anabolic effects throughout the body. When control of insulin levels fails, diabetes mellitus results.
Insulin is used medically to treat some forms of diabetes mellitus. Patients with Type 1 diabetes mellitus depend on external insulin (most commonly injected subcutaneously) for their survival because the hormone is no longer produced internally. Patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus are insulin resistant, and because of such resistance, may suffer from a relative insulin deficiency. Some patients with Type 2 diabetes may eventually require insulin when other medications fail to control blood glucose levels adequately.
Insulin is a peptide hormone composed of 51 amino acids and has a molecular weight of 5808 Da. It is produced in the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas. The name comes from the Latin insula for "island".
Insulin's structure varies slightly between species of animal. Insulin from animal sources differs somewhat in 'strength' (in carbohydrate metabolism control effects) in humans because of those variations. Porcine (pig) insulin is especially close to the human version.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
