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Adipocyte dysfunctions linking obesity to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

Guilherme A, Virbasius JV, Puri V, Czech MP

Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts 01605, USA.

Acquired resistance to the action of insulin to stimulate glucose transport in skeletal muscle is associated with obesity and promotes the development of type 2 diabetes. In skeletal muscle, insulin resistance can result from high levels of circulating fatty acids that disrupt insulin signalling pathways. However, the severity of insulin resistance varies greatly among obese people. Here we postulate that this variability might reflect differences in levels of lipid-droplet proteins that promote the sequestration of fatty acids within adipocytes in the form of triglycerides, thereby lowering exposure of skeletal muscle to the inhibitory effects of fatty acids.

Published 23 April 2008 in Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol, 9(5): 367-77.
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