Regulation of cardiac function by insulin signaling

胰岛素信号调节多种细胞过程，包括葡萄糖稳态和转录/翻译调节。我们的初步数据表明，胰岛素受体基因的缺失，特别是在成年人的心脏导致心肌收缩力受损。因此，我们试图探索胰岛素信号调节心脏功能的机制基础，我们发现胰岛素受体基因敲除可特异性下调心脏Akt-mTOR通路，mTOR的激活可逆转胰岛素受体基因敲除对心脏收缩功能的不利影响。我们的研究结果表明，心脏中的胰岛素信号通过Akt-mTOR分支调节收缩功能。

Insulin signaling regulates multiple cellular processes including glucose homeostasis and transcriptional/translational regulation. Our preliminary data showed that deletion of insulin receptor gene specifically in the adult heart results in impaired cardiac contractility. We therefore tried to explore the mechanistic basis for the regulation of cardiac function by insulin signaling.We found that Akt-mTOR pathway is specifically downregulated in the heart by insulin receptor gene deletion and activation of mTOR reverses the deleterious effect of insulin receptor knockout on contractile function. Our results suggest that insulin signaling in the heart regulates contractile function through Akt-mTOR branch.