Abstract
Insulin signaling is pivotal in controlling animals’ lifespan and responses to environmental changes and, when altered, it may lead to pathogenic states. Despite its importance and relevance for biomedical research, insulin’s mechanism of action and the full range of its pathophysiological effects remain incompletely understood. Likewise, the evolutionary origin of insulin and its associated signaling components are unclear. Notwithstanding the common view that insulin signaling originated within metazoans, experimental evidence from non-metazoans suggest a more widespread distribution across eukaryotes. Here, we summarize this evidence. Furthermore, we put forward an evolutionary account that reconciles seemingly contradictory results in the literature.
Funding source: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Award Identifier / Grant number: 281125614/GRK2220
Funding statement: The authors wish to thank Rebecca Hagen for helpful discussions and insightful feedback on the final draft of the manuscript. This study was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – 281125614/GRK2220.
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©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Reviews
- Exploratory cell dynamics: a sense of touch for cells?
- Kallikrein-related peptidases and associated microRNAs as promising prognostic biomarkers in gastrointestinal malignancies
- Sphingolipid metabolism – an ambiguous regulator of autophagy in the brain
- Minireview
- Insulin-like signaling within and beyond metazoans
- Research Articles/Short Communications
- Genes and Nucleic Acids
- Oxidation of 1-N2-etheno-2′-deoxyguanosine by singlet molecular oxygen results in 2′-deoxyguanosine: a pathway to remove exocyclic DNA damage?
- Protein Structure and Function
- Novel approach to quorum quenching: rational design of antibacterials in combination with hexahistidine-tagged organophosphorus hydrolase
- The forkhead domain hinge-loop plays a pivotal role in DNA binding and transcriptional activity of FOXP2
- New clues into the self-assembly of Vmh2, a basidiomycota class I hydrophobin
- Membranes, Lipids, Glycobiology
- Model construction of Niemann-Pick type C disease in zebrafish
- Cell Biology and Signaling
- Upregulation of Twist is involved in Gli1 induced migration and invasion of hepatocarcinoma cells
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Reviews
- Exploratory cell dynamics: a sense of touch for cells?
- Kallikrein-related peptidases and associated microRNAs as promising prognostic biomarkers in gastrointestinal malignancies
- Sphingolipid metabolism – an ambiguous regulator of autophagy in the brain
- Minireview
- Insulin-like signaling within and beyond metazoans
- Research Articles/Short Communications
- Genes and Nucleic Acids
- Oxidation of 1-N2-etheno-2′-deoxyguanosine by singlet molecular oxygen results in 2′-deoxyguanosine: a pathway to remove exocyclic DNA damage?
- Protein Structure and Function
- Novel approach to quorum quenching: rational design of antibacterials in combination with hexahistidine-tagged organophosphorus hydrolase
- The forkhead domain hinge-loop plays a pivotal role in DNA binding and transcriptional activity of FOXP2
- New clues into the self-assembly of Vmh2, a basidiomycota class I hydrophobin
- Membranes, Lipids, Glycobiology
- Model construction of Niemann-Pick type C disease in zebrafish
- Cell Biology and Signaling
- Upregulation of Twist is involved in Gli1 induced migration and invasion of hepatocarcinoma cells