AMPK-glycogen interplay: an opportunity for drug design

Type 2 diabetes is the form of diabetes associated with age and/or poor lifestyle. On a cellular and whole body level, the balance between energy intake (food) and expenditure (physical activity) is of primordial importance to maintain health. One of the major cellular actors that control this balance is AMPK, the protein that was studied throughout this thesis. In this work, the inter-regulation between AMPK and the cellular storage of glucose, called glycogen, was particularly studied. Importantly, new small molecules that target AMPK were identified: these molecules may in the future be developed into a new drug to target diabetes.