Little caves ameliorate hepatic insulin signaling. Focus on 'caveolin gene transfer improves glucose metabolism in diabetic mice'.

摘要

caveolae, discovered by electron microscopy in 1950s, are membrane invaginations that accommodate various molecules involved in cellular signaling. Caveolin, a major component of caveolae, has been shown to inhibit the function of multiple caveolar proteins, including kinases, involved in cell differentiation and proliferation. Interestingly, insulin signal seems exempted from this inhibition and would rather require caveolin for proper signaling. In this issue of American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology, Otsu and coworkers (16) show that the insulin resistance state of obese and diabetic mice can be reversed upon caveolin-3 overexpression in liver. These interesting findings point to a novel role of caveolin in controlling whole insulin sensitivity and glucose homeostasis in mice.