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How glucagon really works
The current dogma says that the pancreatic hormone glucagon works by activating adenylate cyclase, and generating cyclic AMP, in target tissues. We recently published a paper casting serious doubt on that view. Rather than acting as an “anti-insulin”, glucagon appears to actually imitate or duplicate effects of insulin on the heart and perhaps on other non-liver tissues as well. We will be conducting experiments this summer designed to test the hypothesis that glucagon promotes glucose output from the liver and glucose utilization in the heart by mechanisms that are totally independent of cyclic AMP, and that may involve the activation of an unknown receptor. The results of this project will be of fundamental importance not only for our understanding of the true mechanism of action of this critical metabolic hormone, but also for developing new lines of treatment of diabetes and related metabolic disorders.
 News & Events

RI-INBRE Newsletter Fall 2009

RI-INBRE Newsletter Fall 2009

Grant Workshop PowerPoint Presentations & Handouts

Balancing Teaching and Research at PUIs

Components of a Successful AREA (R15) Grant

NSF-RUI Program: Strategies and Tips for Success

Handouts

Important Dates

RI-INBRE Calendar

12/3//09 - Shahram Khademi, Ph.D, University of Iowa - "The structure and mechanism of ammonia channels"

12/4/09 - 4th Annual BioNES Meeting, Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI

1/29/10 - RI-INBRE Research Fellows Meeting & Faculty Retreat, Providence College, Providence, RI

3/1/10 - Application Deadline for the 2010 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships

6/16/10 - 6/18/10 National IDeA Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellence, Bethesda, MD

 Supported by grant #  P20RR016457 from:
Contact Info
Contact RI INBRE:  
University of Rhode Island
Fogarty Hall		 | 41 Lower College Rd | Kingston, RI 02881
Phone: (401) 874-9288 | Fax: (401) 874-2646 | E-mail: riinbre@etal.uri.edu