Presenting Author Chicago Public Schools Chicago, Illinois
Insulin is a hormone that controls the level of glucose in the bloodstream. It acts as a messenger that binds to cell receptors (embedded in cell membranes), resulting in lowering sugar levels in the blood. Patients with Type 1 Diabetes mellitus lack the ability to produce Insulin which requires them to inject it to maintain glucose blood levels. There are two main types of Insulin, Human (the one that the body makes) and designer Insulin. Designer insulins differ in Beta chain amino acid sequences, which leads to a significant change in response time. This change typically takes place in B28 and B29 amino acids. It is a group interest to research how structural differences in Beta chain of Long and Short acting Designer Insulins lead to the significant change in response time compared to natural Human Insulin. Insulin Lispro (1LPH), a type of rapid/short acting Insulin with Lys28 and Pro29 beta chain configuration is effective for a duration of 5 hours. Insulin Glargine (4IYD) on the other hand, is a Long acting designer insulin with a reversed proline at B28 and lysine at B29. Galrgine is effective for 24 hours, 19 hours more than Lispro even though the difference is so small in the Beta chain of their amino acids. Human insulin has the same Beta chain configuration as Glargine, which in a no Diabatic scenario keeps glucose level balanced at all times. This reversed sequence in Lispro results in a more rapid dissolution of the Insulin, making it dimer and then to a monomer that gets absorbed rapidly straight after injection. It is also important to mention that Glargine has only 29 amino acids in the Beta chain, while Lispro and Human Insulin have 30. The B30 amino acid is different among Lispro and Human Insulin as well.
