The opposing actions of glucagon and insulin on glucose metabolism within the liver are
essential mechanisms for maintaining plasma glucose concentrations within narrow limits.
Less well studied are the counterregulatory actions of glucagon on protein metabolism. In
the present study, the effect of glucagon on amino acid-induced signaling through the
mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), an important controller of the mRNA binding step in
translation initiation, was examined using the perfused rat liver as an experimental model …