Exploring the in Vivo Mechanisms of Action of Glucokinase Activators in Type 2 Diabetes

摘要

Glucokinase (or hexokinase IV or hexokinase D) is a member of the hexokinase family of cytoplasmic enzymes responsible for the first intracellular metabolic step of glucose metabolism: the phosphorylation of glu- cose to glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) for further utilization by the cell (1). It is selectively expressed in pancreatic B-cells, hepatocytes, and neuronaleuroendocrine cells. In both B-cells and the liver, the rate of glucose transport is limited by the rate of glucose phosphorylation to G6P, and consequently by glucokinase (2).