Adenosine 5′-monophosphate activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a key enzymatic protein involved
in linking the energy sensing to the metabolic manipulation. It is a serine/threonine kinase activated
by several upstream kinases. AMPK is a heterotrimeric protein complex regulated by AMP, ADP, and
ATP allosterically. AMPK is ubiquitously expressed in various tissues of the living system such as heart,
kidney, liver, brain and skeletal muscles. Thus malfunctioning of AMPK is expected to harbor several
human pathologies especially diseases associated with metabolic and mitochondrial dysfunction. AMPK
activators including synthetic derivatives and several natural products that have been found to show therapeutic
relief in several animal models of disease. AMP, 5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide riboside (AICA
riboside) and A769662 are important activators of AMPK which have potential therapeutic importance
in diabetes and diabetic complications. AMPK modulation has shown beneficial effects against
diabetes, cardiovascular complications and diabetic neuropathy. The major impact of AMPK modulation
ensures healthy functioning of mitochondria and energy homeostasis in addition to maintaining a strict
check on inflammatory processes, autophagy and apoptosis. Structural studies on AMP and AICAR suggest
that the free amino group is imperative for AMPK stimulation. A769662, a non-nucleoside
thienopyridone compound which resulted from the lead optimization studies on A-592107 and several
other related compound is reported to exhibit a promising effect on diabetes and its complications through
activation of AMPK. Subsequent to the discovery of A769662, several thienopyridones,
hydroxybiphenyls pyrrolopyridones have been reported as AMPK modulators. The review will explore
the structure-function relationships of these analogues and the prospect of targeting AMPK in diabetes
and diabetic complications.
Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring Approaches for Disaggregated Energy Sensing: A Survey
