Abstract
From a structural comparison of mammalian and piscine insulin it seems that, besides
the obvious differences in the amino acid sequences, there may be more subtle differences
in the processes of chain initiation and activation of proinsulin between mammalian
and piscine species. Also, it is suggested that the presence of two distinct insulin
in some species may be the result of translational variation caused by ambiguous codons
in the proinsulin messengers.
Key words
Mammalian Insulin - Piscine Insulin - Amino Acid Sequence - Proinsulin
1 Present addresses: N. S. Track, Instituts de Biologie Moléculaire et de Biochimie
Clinique, Université de Genève, Geneva - Switzerland. K. B. M. Reid, Department of
Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, England.
