Designed inhibitors of insulin-degrading enzyme regulate the catabolism and activity of insulin.
Leissring, M.A., Malito, E., Hedouin, S., Reinstatler, L., Sahara, T., Abdul-Hay, S.O., Choudhry, S., Maharvi, G.M., Fauq, A.H., Huzarska, M., May, P.S., Choi, S., Logan, T.P., Turk, B.E., Cantley, L.C., Manolopoulou, M., Tang, W.J., Stein, R.L., Cuny, G.D., Selkoe, D.J.(2010) PLoS One 5: e10504-e10504
- PubMed: 20498699 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0010504
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
3E4A - PubMed Abstract: 
Insulin is a vital peptide hormone that is a central regulator of glucose homeostasis, and impairments in insulin signaling cause diabetes mellitus. In principle, it should be possible to enhance the activity of insulin by inhibiting its catabolism, which is mediated primarily by insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE), a structurally and evolutionarily distinctive zinc-metalloprotease. Despite interest in pharmacological inhibition of IDE as an attractive anti-diabetic approach dating to the 1950s, potent and selective inhibitors of IDE have not yet emerged.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, United States of America. Leissring@mayo.edu