Resistin belongs to a family of tissue-specific cytokines termed FIZZ (found in inflammatory zones) and RELM. The three known members of this family; Resistin, RELM-alpha and RELM-beta share a highly conserved C-terminal domain, characterized by 10 cysteine residues with a unique spacing motif of C-X11-C-X8-C-X-C-X3-C-X10-C-X-C-X-C-X9-C-C. Resistin is an adipose-derived cytokine (adipokine) whose physiological function and molecular targets are largely unknown. Studies have shown that Resistin suppresses insulin's ability to stimulate glucose uptake, and postulated that Resistin might be an important link between obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Other studies have indicated that Resistin expression is severely suppressed in obesity and that it may act as a feedback regulator of Adipogenesis. Recombinant rat Resistin is a 20kD disulfide-linked homodimeric protein composed of two 94 identical aa chains linked by a single disulfide bond.