title: Metabolic regulation by protein tyrosine phosphatases.
abstract: Obesity and the metabolic syndrome and their associated morbidities are major public health issues, whose prevalence will continue to increase in the foreseeable future. Aberrant signaling by the receptors for leptin and insulin plays a pivotal role in development of the metabolic syndrome. More complete molecular-level understanding of how both of these key signaling pathways are regulated is essential for full characterization of obesity, the metabolic syndrome, and type II diabetes, and for developing novel treatments for these diseases. Phosphorylation of proteins on tyrosine residues plays a key role in mediating the effects of leptin and insulin on their target cells. Here, we discuss the molecular methods by which protein tyrosine phosphatases, which are key physiological regulators of protein phosphorylation in vivo, affect signaling by the leptin and insulin receptors in their major target tissues.
authors.affiliation: Diabetes and Metabolic Disease Unit, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot 76100, Israel;
authors.forename: Hilla
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Knobler
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Ari
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elson
keywords: PTP; diabetes; insulin resistance; leptin resistance; metabolic syndrome; obesity; tyrosine phosphatase