What is insulin?

Chemically, insulin is made of amino acids, the building blocks of protein. It is synthesised in the islet cells in a form called proinsulin, which is broken down before release into the blood into a small piece called C-peptide, and insulin. The insulin itself consists of two chains (A and B) linked together by sulphur-containing bridges. Both C-peptide and insulin (and some proinsulin) are packaged together in the islet cells into granules prior to release and all three are detectable in the blood of people who do not have diabetes. Though drawn in the illustration for convenience as two straight chains, the structure of insulin is in fact coiled up into a three-dimensional ball. The amino acids on the outside interact with the cell’s insulin receptors. It has proved possible to modify insulin by changing its size and amino acid composition to produce novel insulin-type medicines.
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