However, AMPK is an enzyme found in many more types of cells than chemoreceptors because it helps regulate metabolism.
•
AMPK activation is also a more appealing candidate because it can activate both of the two most common types of potassium channels.
•
The difference may actually lie in the cell’s metabolism, rather than the AMPK enzyme; peripheral chemoreceptors display very high background rates of oxygen consumption, supported by its dense network of capillaries.
•
Since its base rate of cellular respiration is so high, it’s AMPK would be more sensitive to reductions in blood borne oxygen, thus allowing it to respond to small variations in oxygen content before other cells begin to feel the effects of its absence.
AMPK |
Shot over three years’ time in the molecular biology laboratory of Dr. Lawrence Shapiro of the Columbia University Medical Center, the film chronicles how the tool of X-ray crystallography enables the discovery of the workings of the AMPK protein molecule, revealing a new path towards the treatment of diabetes and obesity.
It is the catalytic subunit of the 5'-prime-AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK).
Epidemiologic and preclinical lab studies indicate that metformin has anti-tumor effects, via at least two mechanisms, both involving activation of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK).