Regulation by a hormone the insulin response

Part 1 concludes with a discussion of the actions of insulin. This provides an opportunity to see how regulatory mechanisms, such as phosphorylation dephosphorylation and control by second messengers, enable the body to respond to a hormone which, in many ways, behaves like a growth factor. 

The vital role of insulin is best appreciated when we look at the consequences of a lack of insulin and/or a lack of insulin response, leading to excess blood glucose. Hyperglycaemia is responsible for many manifestations of the disease, because it leads to non-enzymic glycation of proteins, as shown by Anthony Cerami (of course, there are other important manifestations of the disease, such as the dysfunction of fatty acid metabolism and the formation of ketone bodies, which have not been considered here see P. J. Randle et 

Proteins with relatively short half-lives are glycated by rather acute increases in blood glucose, whereas chronic, small elevations of blood glucose lead to irreversible chemical modifications of long-lived proteins. These have been called advanced-glycation end-products (AGEs) (Fig. 8.2). 

To sum up the essential life-supporting function of insulin is the maintenance of glucose homeostasis. The question therefore is, how is insulin doing that We shall focus therefore on transport and metabolism of glucose and its control by insulin. Thus the scope of this chapter is quite narrow, dealing only with insulin actions. Although the classical human type 2 diabetes mellitus is caused by both an impairment of insulin 

Does insulin correct the overproduction of glucose in the liver  

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Insulin is a hormone responsible for the regulation of glucose levels in the blood. An aqueous solution of insulin has an osmotic pressure of 2.5 mm Hg at 25°C. It is prepared by dissolving 0.100 g of insulin in enough water to make 125 mL of solution. What is the molar mass of insulin ... 

Control of physiological responses often involves several hormones. In some systems, two or more hormones act in opposition to each other (e.g., insulin and glucagon in the regulation of blood glucose). In other control systems, several hormones act in information hierarchies. Section 16.4 begins with a description of the best-researched example of such a hierarchy, referred to as a hormone cascade mechanism. This is followed by a discussion of growth factors, specialized proteins that stimulate cell division in susceptible cells. 

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