Insulin
Adipocytes are exquisitely sensitive to the effects of insulin. Binding
of insulin to its receptor initiates the movement of glucose transporter
GLUT4 to the plasma membrane to allow uptake of glucose by the
adipocyte. Adipocyte GLUT4 trafficking not only keeps substrate
available for DNL but also seems to mediate the cross-talk of adipose
with liver and muscle to maintain systemic glucose homeostasis (Abel et
al., 2001). GLUT4 trafficking is evident in equine adipocytes but there
is a suggestion that more complex and additional insulin signalling
pathways may also contribute (Warnken et al., 2017). Insulin also
supresses lipolysis in equine and human adipocytes (Warnken et al.,
2017; Duncan et al., 2007) and this acts to regulate the availability of
free fatty acids and glycerol to the liver for gluconeogenesis.
Figure 1 Diagram showing some of the key functions of adipose tissue.
Created with BioRender.com.