Question

The processing of proinsulin into mature insulin includes

• A. addition of C peptide
• B. removal of C peptide
• C. removal of A peptide
• D. removal of B peptide

Answer 1

The correct option is B removal of C peptide

Insulin is a peptide hormone which lowers the blood sugar level. It is used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus.

Earlier, it was extracted from the animal pancreas. Due to rDNA technology, it can now be synthesised in bacterial cells.

Inside the bacterial cells, it is synthesised as preproinsulin which gets modified into proinsulin.

The proinsulin is made up of chains A, B and C. There are disulphide bridges that hold chains A and B together. Active and functional insulin is formed when chain C is removed.