Insulin at the German wool research institute - Retrospect and outlook

This paper summarizes the research carried out between 1977 and 1999 in the German Wool Research Institute (Deutsches Wollforschungsinstitut, DWI) and in collaboration with other laboratories. Chemical synthesis and chemo-enzymatic semisynthesis yielded a large number of insulin analogues and special insulin probes, which allowed detailed structure-function studies and investigations based on photoaffinity labelling of insulin receptors. The outlook refers to some recent areas which are of potential interest for diabetes treatment and require further research.