Insulin receptor substrates (IRS) are responsible for several insulin related activities, such as glucose homeostasis, cell growth, cell transformation, apoptosis and insulin signal transduction. Serine/threonine phosphorylation of IRS1 has been demonstrated to be a negative regulator of insulin signaling and is responsible for its degradation, although IRS1 degradation pathways are not well understood. IRS1 has also been shown to be constitutively activated in cancers such as breast cancer,

The protein encoded by this gene is a member of the Ser/Thr protein kinase family. This protein is highly similar to the gene products of S. cerevisiae cdc28 and S. pombe cdc2. It is a catalytic subunit of the protein kinase complex that is important for cell cycle G1 phase progression. The activity of this kinase is restricted to the G1-S phase, which is controlled by the regulatory subunits D-type cyclins and CDK inhibitor p16(INK4a). This kinase was shown to be responsible for the phosphor

The human insulin receptor is a heterotetrameric membrane glycoprotein consisting of disulfide linked subunits in a beta-alpha-alpha-beta configuration. The beta subunit (95 kDa) possesses a single transmembrane domain, whereas the alpha subunit (135 kDa) is completely extracellular. The insulin receptor exhibits receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) activity. RTKs are single pass transmembrane receptors that possess intrinsic cytoplasmic enzymatic activity, catalyzing the transfer of the gamma phosph

IL-1RA is a member of the interleukin 1 cytokine family. IL1Ra is secreted by various types of cells including immune cells, epithelial cells, and adipocytes, and is a natural inhibitor of the pro-inflammatory effect of IL1β. This protein inhibits the activities of interleukin 1, alpha (IL1A) and interleukin 1, beta (IL1B), and modulates a variety of interleukin 1 related immune and inflammatory responses. This gene and five other closely related cytokine genes form a gene cluster spanni

Glycogen Synthase (GS) is a key enzyme in the regulation of glycogen metabolism. GS catalyzes the incorporation of UDP-glucose incorporation into glycogen. The activity of glycogen synthase is regulated by hormonal stimuli (insulin, catecholamines and glucagons) and non-hormonal stimuli (blood glucose level and exercise). Two main isoforms of mammalian GS are designated as muscle (glycogen synthase 1) and liver (glycogen synthase 2). Most tissues express glycogen synthase 1, whereas glycoge

Protein kinase C (PKC) zeta is a member of the PKC family of serine/threonine kinases which are involved in a variety of cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation and secretion. Unlike the classical PKC isoenzymes which are calcium-dependent, PKC zeta exhibits a kinase activity which is independent of calcium and diacylglycerol but not of phosphatidylserine. Furthermore, it is insensitive to typical PKC inhibitors and cannot be activated by phorbol ester. Unlike the classical