Glucose uptake of hepatocytes and pancreatic beta cells (in mice, but GLUT1 in human beta cells; see Reference 1). The high Km of GLUT2 allows for glucose sensing; rate of glucose entry is proportional to blood glucose levels. GLUT4 transporters are insulin sensitive, and are found in muscle and adipose tissue. As muscle is a principal storage site for glucose and adipose tissue for triglyceride (into which glucose can be converted for storage), GLUT4 is important in post-prandial uptake of excess glucose from the bloodstream. Moreover, several recent papers show that GLUT 4 is present in the brain also. The drug metformin
Glucose major facilitator superfamily. In the small intestine (more precisely, in the jejunum), glucose is taken up into the intestinal epithelial cells with the help of glucose transporters via a secondary active transport mechanism called sodium ion-glucose symport via the sodium/glucose cotransporter 1. The further transfer occurs on the basolateral side of the intestinal epithelial cells via the glucose transporter GLUT2, as well as their uptake into liver cells, kidney cells, cells of the islets of Langerhans, nerve cells, astrocytes and tanyocytes. Glucose enters the liver via the vena portae and is stored there as a cellular glycogen. In the liver