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Insulin Signal Transduction

Welcome to the Insulin Signal Transduction Group

Eva Degerman  Professor Tel: +46462228583 e-mail: Eva.Degerman@med.lu.se

Cellular signalling in obesity and diabetes

Our vision is to identify new mechanisms and molecular targets of relevance for the treatment of obesity and diabetes and to identify defects in signalling patterns that can predict development of the disease.

Patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes have a reduced sensitivity to insulin and other hormones in their target tissues, such as skeletal muscle, liver and adipose tissue and defects in insulin secretion. This is associated with increased circulating levels of glucose and fatty acids, as well as altered levels of adipocyte-derived hormones and cytokines. The insulin resistance and resulting dysregulated metabolism is a corner stone in the development of diabetes. The exact cellular and molecular mechanisms causing systemic insulin resistance is not known, but its strong link to obesity suggests that primary or secondary defects in adipose tissue are underlying problems. By dissecting signalling pathways regulating glucose- and lipid metabolism, particularly in adipose tissue, our aim is to identify new molecular targets of relevance for diabetes pathophysiology and drug development. Our research groups focus on the interplay between insulin and cyclic AMP signalling networks and the role of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDEs) in insulin target tissues as well as in insulin secreting pancreatic beta cells. By elucidating such signalling networks we will learn more about the regulation of cellular energy balance and insulin sensitivity. We are also engaged in functional investigation of new risk genes for diabetes that have emerged from genome wide association studies by other members of the LUDC (Lund University Diabetes Centre).