Management of Insulin Through Co-Solute Engineering: A Therapeutic Approach

Abstract

Fibrillation and aggregation of protein are some of the most exciting frontiers in protein chemistry and molecular medicine. It is also expected to shed light on the molecular and biochemical basis of various pathological conditions having a dramatic social impact such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s diseases, and type II diabetes. The role of insulin in different physiological processes, effect on its synthesis and secretion, along with its actions on the molecular level to the whole-body level, has important implications in chronic diseases prevailing in westernized populations today. Rapid globalization, urbanization, and industrialization have spawned epidemics of obesity, diabetes, and their attendant comorbidities, like physical inactivity and dietary imbalance, unmask latent predisposing genetic traits. The present review discusses insulin, its structure, and its etiology in diabetes. The aggregation mechanism begins with the diffusion of insulin and then its adsorption at the hydrophobic interface that leads to conformational changes of oligomers to expose the hydrophobic residues. Factors influencing its aggregation, such as temperature, light exposure, pH, salt, protein concentration, drying, and agitation, have also been discussed. At last, the therapeutic approaches with recent drug interventions have also been mentioned.