Glucokinase And Glycemic Diseases

The glucose-phosphorylating enzyme glucokinase (also known as hexokinase IV) plays a preeminent role as a glucose sensor and regulatory metabolic enzyme. The implications of this central position of glucokinase for the understanding and treatment of diabetes mellitus are far reaching. This book addresses the molecular and human genetic, as well as the physiological-chemical and pharmacological aspects of the role glucokinase plays in glucose homeostasis and diseases of glucose metabolism, and how the enzyme serves as the drug target for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. The collection of assays by a team of internationally renowned authors includes basic science chapters dealing with the enzymology, structure and the kinetics of hexokinases, essays describing the biochemical genetics of glucokinase-linked hypo- and hyperglycemia syndromes, and papers that discuss the diverse roles of the enzyme in a variety of tissues. Finally, the book contains the latest information on the recently discovered class of weight drugs that activate glucokinase (i.e. glucokinase activators or GKAs). This volume is of great interest to basic and clinical diabetes researchers, geneticists, biochemists, physiologists and pharmacologists.

The beta cells of the pancreatic islets of Langerhans are the only cells in the body that produce and secrete insulin. This metabolic hormone plays a central role in the maintenance of glucose homeostasis. This book provides a comprehensive review of the beta cell in health and disease. The book’s primary aim is to encourage investigators to become actively involved in diabetes research and the search for new approaches to prevent and treat diabetes.

In this volume of 'Frontiers in Diabetes' dealing with the molecular basis of monogenic disease of beta-cell insulin regulation, world-renowned experts provide in-depth descriptions of the many recent advances in genetic defects that cause hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia. These disorders comprise the most important form of hypoglycemia in infants and children and are associated with a high risk of morbidity, including seizures and severe brain injury. The discovery of eight different genetic loci involved in congenital hyperinsulinism has led to greatly improved methods of diagnosis and treatment. New approaches to diagnosis are highlighted, such as 18F-DOPA PET scans for preoperative localization of focal hyperinsulinism, as well as potential new treatments, such as green tea polyphenols for GDH-HI and GLP-receptor antagonists for SUR1 and Kir6.2 hyperinsulinism.Practitioners, including pediatricians and specialists in endocrinology, surgery, genetics, pathology, and radiology, will find important up-to-date information for clinical diagnosis, management, and new treatments for infants and children with congenital hyperinsulinism. Researchers will discover how genetic hyperinsulinism disorders provide novel insights into the basic mechanisms regulating insulin secretion not only in diabetics, but also in healthy humans.

Mitochondria are crucial organelles for any cell type. Mitochondria take responsibility for not only energy production but also regulation of cell death, also called apoptosis; calcium storage; and heat production. Therefore, mitochondrial disease is implicated in the mode of action of many harmful factors for cells such as drugs and environmental contaminants, dysfunction of the oxygen transport system, malnutrition, intense exercise, and genetic variations. This book presents up-to-date knowledge about mitochondrial disease and its complex relation to some diseases such as cardiac failure, cancer, and Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. This book will, therefore, be essential for readers who are interested in life sciences, especially in medicine.

Genetic Diagnosis of Endocrine Disorders, Second Edition provides users with a comprehensive reference that is organized by endocrine grouping (i.e., thyroid, pancreas, parathyroid, pituitary, adrenal, and reproductive and bone), discussing the genetic and molecular basis for the diagnosis of various disorders. The book emphasizes the practical nature of diagnosing a disease, including which tests should be done for the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus in adults and children, which genes should be evaluated for subjects with congenital hypothyroidism, which genetic tests should be ordered in obese patients or for those with parathyroid carcinoma, and the rationale behind testing for multiple endocrine neoplasias. Offers a clear presentations of pharmacogenetics and the actual assays used in detecting endocrine diseases Teaches the essentials of the genetic basis of disease in each major endocrine organ system Offers expert advice from genetic counselors on how to use genetic information in counseling patients Includes new chapters on the genetics of lipid disorders and glycogen storage diseases, genetics of hypoglycemia, and whole genome/exome sequencing

This first comprehensive survey to cover all pharmaceutically relevant topics provides a comprehensive introduction to this novel and revolutionary tool, presenting both concepts and application examples of biosimulated cells, organs and organisms. Following an introduction to the role of biosimulation in drug development, the authors go on to discuss the simulation of cells and tissues, as well as simulating drug action and effect. A further section is devoted to simulating networks and populations, and the whole is rounded off by a look at the potential for biosimulation in industrial drug development and for regulatory decisions. Part of the authors are members of the BioSim Network of Excellence that encompasses more than 40 academic institutions, pharmaceutical companies and regulatory authorities dealing with drug development; other contributors come from industry, resulting in a cross-disciplinary expert reference.