scholarly journals Two sites of glucose control of insulin release with distinct dependence on the energy state in pancreatic B-cells

1994 ◽  
Vol 297 (3) ◽  
pp. 455-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Detimary ◽  
P Gilon ◽  
M Nenquin ◽  
J C Henquin

The energy state of pancreatic B-cells may influence insulin release at several steps of stimulus-secretion coupling. By closing ATP-sensitive K+ channels (K(+)-ATP channels), a rise in the ATP/ADP ratio may regulate the membrane potential, and hence Ca2+ influx. It may also modulate the effectiveness of Ca2+ on its intracellular targets. To assess the existence of these two roles and determine their relative importance for insulin release, we tested the effects of azide, a mitochondrial poison, on mouse B-cell function under various conditions. During stimulation by glucose alone, when K(+)-ATP channels are controlled by cellular metabolism, azide caused parallel, concentration-dependent (0.5-5 mM), membrane repolarization, decrease in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration [Ca2+]i and inhibition of insulin release. When K(+)-ATP channels were closed pharmacologically (by tolbutamide in high glucose), azide did not repolarize the membrane or decrease [Ca2+]i, and was much less effective in inhibiting insulin release. A similar resistance to azide was observed when K(+)-ATP channels were opened by diazoxide, and high K+ was used to depolarize the membrane and raise [Ca2+]i. In contrast, azide similarly decreased ATP levels and increased ADP levels, thereby lowering the ATP/ADP ratio under all conditions. In conclusion, lowering the ATP/ADP ratio in B-cells can inhibit insulin release even when [Ca2+]i remains high. However, this distal step is much more resistant to a decrease in the energy state of B-cells than is the control of membrane potential by K(+)-ATP channels. Generation of the signal triggering insulin release, high [Ca2+]i, through metabolic control of membrane potential requires a higher global ATP/ADP ratio than does activation of the secretory process itself.

1983 ◽  
Vol 103 (4) ◽  
pp. 552-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seiki Ito ◽  
Satoko Isemura ◽  
Eiichi Saitoh ◽  
Kazuo Sanada ◽  
Toshimitsu Suzuki ◽  
...  

Abstract. An immunohistochemical study using antisera against proline rich salivary peptide P-C and insulin, glucagon, somatostatin and pancreatic polypeptide antisera was carried out on the foetal pancreas at different stages and on the newborn infant's, infant's, child's and adult pancreas to examine the time at which salivary peptide P-C like immunoreactivity appeared in the human pancreas. Salivary peptide P-C like immunoreactive cells first appeared as a few scattered cells in the foetal pancreas after 16 weeks of gestation and gradually increased in numbers during gestation. The cells corresponded only to insulin immunoreactive cells in the foetal, newborn infant's, infant's, child's and adult pancreas. Only some of the insulin immunoreactive cells in the foetal pancreas contained salivary peptide P-C like immunoreactivity while the majority of those in the infant's pancreas and all those in the child's and adult pancreas did so. The findings, together with the fact that the full sequence of salivary peptide P-C is identical to the COOH-terminal 44 amino acid residues of Salivary Protein C, led to the possibility that peptide P-C like immunoreactivity in the human pancreatic B-cells was not a moiety of the precursor of insulin and pro-insulin, but a moiety of Salivary Protein C. It has been suggested that, in saliva, Salivary Protein C aids in maintenance of the calcium concentration. Based on the hypothesis that peptide P-C like immunoreactivity in the human pancreatic B-cells may play some role in insulin release through the maintenance of the calcium concentration, the present finding seems to explain the fact that the mechanism for insulin release in the foetal pancreas is immature in spite of sufficient biosynthesis of insulin.


1987 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigurd Lenzen ◽  
Markus Tiedge ◽  
Uwe Panten

Abstract. Characterization of glucokinase in pancreatic B-cells from ob/ob mice and from rat liver revealed identical characteristics. A narrow substrate specificity; high Km values for the two substrates, D-glucose and D-mannose, in the range of 10 and 20 mmol/l, respectively; higher Vmax values for D-glucose than for D-mannose; inhibition of glucokinase activities by D-mannoheptulose and by a specific glucokinase antibody. These characteristics distinguish glucokinase in soluble cytoplasmic fractions of pancreatic B-cells and liver from low Km hexokinases. Alloxan is a pancreatic B-cell cytotoxic agent, which has been widely used as a tool for the elucidation of the mechanisms of insulin secretion, because its inhibitory action on insulin secretion has been presumed to be intimately related to the mechanism of glucose-induced insulin secretion. Alloxan inhibited glucokinase but not hexokinase activity in cytoplasmic fractions of pancreatic B-cells and liver. The half maximal inhibitory concentration of alloxan was 5 μmol/l. Glucokinase activity was protected from alloxan toxicity only by D-glucose and D-mannose; the α anomer of D-glucose provided significantly greater protection than the β anomer. The non-metabolizable sugar 3-0-methyl-D-glucose did not provide protection of glucokinase activity against inhibition by alloxan. Thus, inhibition of pancreatic B-cell glucokinase may contribute to the inhibition of glucose-induced insulin secretion by alloxan. These results support the contention that glucokinase regulates the metabolic flux rate through the glycolytic chain in the pancreatic B-cell and thereby generates the signal for glucose-induced insulin secretion.


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