Insulin Receptor in complex with Insulin

Insulin receptor signalling has a central role in mammalian biology, regulating cellular metabolism, growth, division, differentiation and survival. Insulin resistance contributes to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus and the onset of Alzheimer’s disease; aberrant signalling occurs in diverse cancers, exacerbated by cross-talk with the homologous type 1 insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF1R).

Model Description

This is a 3D print of Insulin Receptor in Complex with Insulin is a large format display piece ( 15.868 x / 12.298 y / 13.058 z cm). It was built from PBD IDs: 3Wi4 and 2MFR. It is color coded according to each protein chain and surface convexity. A mysterious protein for sure. During states of prolonged exposure to high levels of blood glucose, the body responds by producing larger quantities of insulin. It’s believed that the receptor becomes “desensitized” to insulin after long enough exposure to hyperinsulinemia, but is that the whole story? The insulin receptor exists on the plasma membrane as a dimer and is believed to co-localize with other membrane bound proteins like GLUT transporters. The mysteries surrounding this protein and its association to metabolic diseases is only now becoming fully understood. Join us in examining this beautiful protein.

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Model pricing is based on total volume of model, complexity of design/time of fabrication, and material selection. Sizes range from 8cms to 16cm in width. Please allow for additional 5 days to reconfigure model dimensions.

Insulin Receptor Dataset Description

“Despite more than three decades of investigation, the three-dimensional structure of the insulin-insulin receptor complex has proved elusive, confounded by the complexity of producing the receptor protein. Here we present the first view, to our knowledge, of the interaction of insulin with its primary binding site on the insulin receptor, on the basis of four crystal structures of insulin bound to truncated insulin receptor constructs.”

Insulin Receptor See-through

“Contact between insulin and L1 is restricted to insulin B-chain residues. The αCT segment displaces the B-chain C-terminal β-strand away from the hormone core, revealing the mechanism of a long-proposed conformational switch in insulin upon receptor engagement. ” PDB Citation