C-peptide is internalised in human endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells via early endosomes

Aims/hypothesis There is increasing evidence that C-peptide exerts intracellular effects in a variety of cells and could be beneficial in patients with type 1 diabetes. Exactly how C-peptide achieves these effects, however, is unknown. Recent reports showed that C-peptide internalised in the cytoplasm of HEK-293 and Swiss 3T3 cells, where it was not degraded for at least 1 h after uptake. In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that C-peptide is internalised via an endocytic pathway and traffics to classic endocytic organelles, such as endosomes and lysosomes.