Insulin signal transduction pathway (also known as glucose homeostasis) also exhibits oscillatory behavior. On a pathological basis, this topic is crucial to understanding certain disorders in the body such as diabetes, hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia. The functioning of a signal transduction pathway is based on extra-cellular signaling that in turn creates a response which causes other subsequent responses, hence creating a chain reaction, or cascade. During the course of signaling, the cell uses each response for accomplishing some kind of a purpose along the way. Insulin secretion mechanism is a common example of signal transduction pathway mechanism. Insulin is produced by the pancreas in a
Lifestyle causes of diabetes mellitus type 2 that "produce fewer and smaller mitochondria than is normal," and are thus prone to insulin resistance. Fat tissue has also been shown to be involved in managing much of the body's response to insulin and control of uptake of sugar. It secretes RBP4 which increases insulin resistance by blocking the action of insulin in muscle and liver. Fat cells also secrete adiponectin which acts in an opposite way to RBP4 by improving the action of insulin, however, engorged fat cells secrete it in lower amount than normal fat cells. The obese therefore may have higher level of RBP4 but lower