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Targeting the AMP-regulated kinase family to treat diabetes: a research update

Gao Sun & Guy A Rutter

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) has long been recognized as a master energy sensor. Activation of AMPK in response to metabolic stress preserves energy stores by switching on catabolic pathways, whilst its inhibition consumes the energy by switching on anabolic pathways. Over the past 10–15 years, much attention has been focused on the role of AMPK in mammalian metabolism, and particularly in diabetes. As a consequence, AMPK has emerged as much more than a simple energy regulator and is now recognized as a kinase involved in controlling numerous cellular processes, including cell growth, apoptosis, autophagy and polarity. Using different in vitro and in vivo tools, AMPK has also been found to play important roles in different glucose-sensing organs and to serve as a key regulator of glucose homeostasis in mammals. Perhaps most importantly, AMPK appears to be the major target for several antidiabetic drugs. Here, we review recent advances in the field and particularly those emerging from the generation of tissue‑specific knockout and transgenic mice.