SPATIAL DETERMINANTS OF SPECIFICITY IN INSULIN ACTION

Insulin is a potent stimulator of intermediary metabolism, however the basis for the remarkable specificity of insulin's stimulation of thes e pathways remains largely unknown. This review focuses on the role co mpartmentalization plays in insulin action, both in signal initiation and in signal reception. Two examples are discussed: (1) a novel signa lling pathway leading to the phosphorylation of the caveolar coat prot ein caveolin, and (2) a recently identified scaffolding protein, PTG, involved directly in the regulation of enzymes controlling glycogen me tabolism.