Insulin (from Latin insula, 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets; 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.
Background References
1. Johansson U et al. Pancreatic Islet Survival and Engraftment Is Promoted by Culture on Functionalized Spider Silk Matrices. PLoS One 10:e0130169 (2015).
2. Hoelen H et al. Proteasomal Degradation of Proinsulin Requires Derlin-2, HRD1 and p97. PLoS One 10:e0128206 (2015).
mIHC analysis of human pancreas tissue (Formalin/PFA-fixed paraffin-embedded sections) with Rabbit anti-Insulin antibody (IRS161RB) at 1/100 dilution. The immunostaining was performed with the IRISKitCmTSA Kit (900808). Heat mediated antigen retrieval with Tris-EDTA buffer (pH 9.0) for 30 mins at 95℃. DAPI (blue) was used as a nuclear counter stain. Image acquisition was performed with Olympus VS200 Slide Scanner.
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