SP22

Principal Investigator: Andrea Henze (Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Science, MLU Halle-Wittenberg)

Theresa Hofmeister (PhD): Cross-talk of protein oxidation and protein phosphorylation in insulin secretion

Insulin secretion is associated with changes in the cellular redox status and in this context, it has been demonstrated that hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is essential for glucose stimulated insulin secretion. Since kinases and phosphatases are frequent targets of redox-modulation and additionally essentially involved in insulin secretion we hypothesize that oxidative posttranslational modifications (oxPTMs) of kinases and phosphatases represent a rational link mediating the effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in this context. Additionally, ROS-overflow is an important factor in β-cell loss and exhaustion during aging and in age-related diseases. Therefore, it is the specific aim of this project is to characterize the cross-talk of protein phosphorylation and oxidation during insulin secretion in vitro and in vivo considering physiological as well as pathophysiological aspects in ROS concentration and β-cell function.