Insulin

Category: pharmacological

Aliases: Humulin, Novolin, Lantus (glargine), Tresiba (degludec)

Pharmacological Mechanism

51-residue disulfide-bridged peptide hormone. Binds insulin receptor (RTK) → GLUT4 translocation → glucose uptake + glycogen + fat + protein synthesis. Many analogs: rapid-acting (lispro, aspart, glulisine), short (regular), intermediate (NPH), long (glargine, detemir, degludec). Analogs vary by fatty-acid acylation, pI shift, or amino-acid substitution.

Half-Life (t½)

SC: 1h, IV: 0.1h

Target Organ Systems

• endocrine

Pathways It Modulates

• Insulin signaling + glucose homeostasis (activator) — InsR (RTK)
• PI3K / AKT signaling (activator) — PI3K via IRS-1/2 (canonical upstream)

Chemical Identifiers

• PubChem CID: 70678557
• Formula: C256H381N65O77S6
• Molecular weight: 5808 g/mol
• InChIKey: YAJCHEVQCOHZDC-QMMNLEPNSA-N
• SMILES: CC[C@@H](C)[C@H]1C(=O)N[C@@H]2CSSC[C@@H](C(=O)N[C@@H](CSSC[C@@H](C(=O)NCC(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@@H](CSSC[C@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC(=O)[C@@H](NC2=O)CO)CC(C)C)CC3=CC=C(C=C3)O)CCC(=O)N)CC(C)C)CCC(=O)O)CC(=O)N)CC4=CC=C(C=C4)O)C(=O)N[C@@H](CC(=O)N)C(=O)O)C(=O)NCC(=O)N[C@@H](CCC(=O)O)C(=O)N[C@@H](CCCNC(=N)N)C(=O)NCC(=O)N[C@@H](CC5=CC=CC=C5)C(=O)N[C@@H](CC6=CC=CC=C6)C(=O)N[C@@H](CC7=CC=C(C=C7)O)C(=O)N[C@@H]([C@H](C)O)C(=O)N8CCC[C@H]8C(=O)N[C@@H](CCCCN)C(=O)N[C@@H]([C@H](C)O)C(=O)O)C(C)C)CC(C)C)CC9=CC=C(C=C9)O)CC(C)C)C)CCC(=O)O)C(C)C)CC(C)C)CC2=CNC=N2)CO)NC(=O)[C@H](CC(C)C)NC(=O)[C@H](CC2=CNC=N2)NC(=O)[C@H](CCC(=O)N)NC(=O)[C@H](C(=O)N)NC(=O)[C@H](C(C)C)NC(=O)[C@H](CC2=CC=CC=C2)N)C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N1)CO)[C@H](C)O)NC(=O)[C@H](CCC(=O)N)NC(=O)[C@H](CCC(=O)O)NC(=O)[C@H](C(C)C)NC(=O)[C@H]([C@H](C)CC)NC(=O)CN

References

• PMID 18715209