This set of Molecular Endocrinology Multiple Choice Questions & Answers (MCQs) focuses on “Arduous Path to Purified Insulin”.
1. What is the name of the hormone injected by millions of people with diabetes mellitus?
a) Insulin
b) Glucagon
c) Vasopressin
d) Oxytocin
View Answer
Explanation: Insulin is the hormone used by diabetes patients. To compensate for the lack of development of this essential hormone from their own pancreatic cells, millions of people with type 1 diabetes mellitus inject themselves with pure insulin daily. Insulin injection is not a solution for diabetes, but it facilitates healthy and prosperous lives for persons who may otherwise have died early.
2. Study on which enzyme in the pancreas led to the accidental discovery of insulin?
a) Acetylases
b) Lipases
c) Methylases
d) Amylases
View Answer
Explanation: In 1889, there was a friendly dispute among scientists at the Hoppe-Seyler Institute in Strasbourg as to whether the pancreas, known to contain lipases, was essential in dogs for fat digestion. They started an experiment on the digestion of fats to address the problem. They removed the pancreas from the dog surgically, but they found that the dog now developed even more urine than expected (a typical symptom of untreated diabetes) and also elevated glucose levels. This led to the discovery of insulin.
3. State whether true or false. Insulin is a protein.
a) True
b) False
View Answer
Explanation: Insulin is a protein made up of two chains, an A-chain (21 amino acids) and a B-chain (30 amino acids), which are bound together by atoms of Sulphur. Insulin is derived from a compound called proinsulin which is a 74-amino-acid prohormone.
4. Which substance in the pancreas, degraded the insulin in the early pancreatic extracts made by the scientists for the discovery of the hormone?
a) Amylases
b) Kinases
c) Lipases
d) Proteases
View Answer
Explanation: We know that insulin is a protein and that the pancreas is very abundant in proteases (trypsin and chymotrypsin) that are usually released directly into the small intestine to help digestion. The insulin in the pancreatic extracts was depleted by these proteases in early studies.
5. The word insulin was derived from which Latin word?
a) Insula
b) Inula
c) Inulin
d) Insulae
View Answer
Explanation: Several lines of evidence in the early period pointed to a group of specialized cells in the pancreas called the Islets of Langerhans as the origin of the antidiabetic factor which was then referred to as insulin. This term came from the Latin word insula, meaning “island.”
6. Who was the first person to be injected with the early purified insulin extracts?
a) Charles Best
b) Leonard Thompson
c) J. J. R. MacLeod
d) Frederick G. Banting
View Answer
Explanation: On January 25, 1922, Leonard Thompson, a 14-year-old boy seriously ill with diabetes mellitus, was injected with the first insulin preparation. The ketone and glucose levels in Thompson’s urine fell drastically within days. That extract actually saved his life.
7. Who won Nobel prize for isolation of insulin in 1923?
a) Oskar Minkowski
b) Frederick G. Banting and Charles Best
c) Banting and MacLeod
d) Josef Von Mering
View Answer
Explanation: Frederick G. Banting and Charles Best purified a pancreatic extract in 1921 that helped in curing the symptoms of experimentally induced diabetes mellitus in dogs. However, the Nobel prize was shared by Banting and MacLeod in 1923. Banting, however immediately announced that he would share his prize with Best.
8. In which year, the commercial production of insulin started?
a) 1922
b) 1980
c) 1998
d) 1923
View Answer
Explanation: In 1922, Nobel prize was awarded to Banting and MacLeod for the discovery of insulin. However, it was by 1923 only, the pharmaceutical firms were selling insulin derived from the porcine pancreas to thousands of patients around the world. With the advancement of genetic modification techniques in the 1980s, the cloned human gene was injected for insulin into a microorganism that was then cultured on an industrial scale. Through this process, it was possible to generate infinite amounts of human insulin.
9. How many amino acids are there in the hormone insulin?
a) 51
b) 50
c) 21
d) 20
View Answer
Explanation: Insulin is a hormone with a protein chain or peptides. The insulin molecule has 51 amino acids. The molecular weight of this hormone is 5808 Da. Insulin is formed in the pancreas in the Islets of Langerhans.
10. Who is known as the father of insulin?
a) Oskar Minkowski
b) Gerald Jerry M Reaven
c) Charles Best
d) Frederick G. Banting
View Answer
Explanation: Gerald Jerry M Reaven was an insulin discovery pioneer, whose findings formed the basis of the metabolic syndrome concept. The invention of the first quantitative method for calculating, human insulin mediated glucose absorption is attributed to him. This invention was carried out in 1970.
Sanfoundry Global Education & Learning Series – Molecular Endocrinology.
To practice all areas of Molecular Endocrinology, here is complete set of 1000+ Multiple Choice Questions and Answers.
If you find a mistake in question / option / answer, kindly take a screenshot and email to [email protected]
