The Proinsulin C-peptide--a Multirole Model

The C-peptide links the insulin A and B chains in proinsulin, providing thereby a means to promote their efficient folding and assembly in the endoplasmic reticulum during insulin biosynthesis. It then facilitates the intracellular transport, sorting, and proteolytic processing of proinsulin into biologically active insulin in the maturing secretory granules of the beta cells. These manifold functions impose significant constraints on the C-peptide structure that are conserved in evolution. After cleavage of proinsulin, the intact C-peptide is stored with insulin in the soluble phase of the secretory granules and is subsequently released in equimolar amounts with insulin, providing a useful independent indicator of insulin secretion. This brief review highlights many aspects of its roles in biosynthesis, as a prelude to consideration of its possible additional role(s) as a physiologically active peptide after its release with insulin into the circulation in vivo.