Fazakerley Lab

We are interested in understanding how insulin stimulates glucose transport into fat and muscle cells, and how this process breaks down in disease.

 

One of the ways in which insulin lowers blood glucose is through stimulating glucose transport into adipose and muscle tissue. Insulin activates a signal transduction cascade in these tissues to promote the translocation of the glucose transporter GLUT4 from specialised intracellular storage vesicles to the plasma membrane, facilitating glucose uptake. We currently have an incomplete understanding of the signalling events and trafficking processes that control the redistribution of GLUT4. One of the objectives of our work is to fill in these knowledge gaps.