The insulin receptor and the molecular mechanism of insulin action.

In humans and most other vertebrates, the primary hormone involved in control of blood glucose is insulin. Insulin acts on cells to stimulate glucose, protein, and lipid metabolism, as well as RNA and DNA synthesis, by modifying the activity of a variety of enzymes and transport processes. The importance of understanding insulin action is not limited to simply satisfying the intellectual needs of the curious biochemist or cell biologist. Elucidating the molecular pathways of insulin action forms an important cornerstone upon which to unravel the pathogenesis of non-insulin-dependent (type II) diabetes mellitus and a major component of other insulin-resistant states including obesity, uremia, glucocorticoid, and growth hormone excess, as well as a variety of rarer genetic disorders such as leprechaunism, the type A syndrome of insulin resistance, and lipoatrophic diabetes.