Sensing nutrients is a fundamental task for all living cells. For most eukaryotic cells glucose is a major source of energy, having significant and varied effects on cell function. Interest in identifying mechanisms by which cells sense and respond to variations in glucose concentration has increased recently. The epithelial cells lining the intestinal tract are exposed, from the luminal domain, to an environment with continuous and massive fluctuations in the levels of dietary monosaccharides. Enterocytes therefore have to sense and respond to the significant changes in the levels of luminal sugars, and regulate the expression of the intestinal glucose transporter (Na+/glucose co-transporter, SGLT1) accordingly. Our data, using a combination of in vivo and in vitro model systems, suggest that glucose in the lumen of the intestine is sensed by a glucose sensor residing on the external face of the enterocyte luminal membrane. Glucose binds to the sensor and generates an intracellular signal leading to enhancement in the expression of SGLT1. The generated signal is independent of glucose metabolism and is likely to operate via a G-protein-coupled receptor and cAMP/protein kinase A signalling cascade.
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December 2003
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Conference Article|
December 01 2003
Mechanism of glucose sensing in the small intestine
J. Dyer;
J. Dyer
Epithelial Function and Development Group, Department of Veterinary Preclinical Sciences and Centre for Nutritional Genomics, The University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZJ, U.K.
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S. Vayro;
S. Vayro
Epithelial Function and Development Group, Department of Veterinary Preclinical Sciences and Centre for Nutritional Genomics, The University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZJ, U.K.
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S.P. Shirazi-Beechey
S.P. Shirazi-Beechey
1
Epithelial Function and Development Group, Department of Veterinary Preclinical Sciences and Centre for Nutritional Genomics, The University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZJ, U.K.
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (e-mail spsb@liv.ac.uk).
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© 2003 Biochemical Society
2003
Biochem Soc Trans (2003) 31 (6): 1140–1142.
Citation
J. Dyer, S. Vayro, S.P. Shirazi-Beechey; Mechanism of glucose sensing in the small intestine. Biochem Soc Trans 1 December 2003; 31 (6): 1140–1142. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/bst0311140
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