Professor Benoit Boivin of the University of Albany

"Cholesterol, PTP1B and insulin resistance: is electron tunneling involved?"

Much remains unknown about the underlying molecular mechanisms that cause insulin resistance at the center of the current pandemic of obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. However, a growing body of data suggests that abnormal cellular cholesterol levels contribute to a reduced insulin response, increased blood glucose and eventually hyperinsulinemia. I will present studies in support of the concept that excess cholesterol is a causal risk factor for insulin resistance by maintaining active the phosphatase responsible for the inactivation of the insulin receptor. I will shed light on a novel mechanism to reduce protein tyrosine phosphatases that could provide a mechanistic framework for the development of specific activators for members of this class of proteins.