The Analysis and Simulation of Granule Concentration Distribution in Cross Section of Spiral Slurry Pipeline

Through the analysis of force acting on granule in slurry spiral flow and movement characteristics of granules, the granule motion equation, the granule size distribution along radial direction, and distribution of granule concentration on cross section of the pipeline were established. By using computer simulation with FLUENT software for granule concentration distribution on cross section in slurry spiral flow of pipeline, the results of simulation revealed that the granule distribution in slurry spiral flow concentrated in peripheral area of cross section of pipeline, the concentration distribution of granule in center of the cross section area was smaller and more uniform, and the concentration of granule was minimum in pipe wall because of the effect of centrifugal force and circumferential velocity acting granules.

Insulin exocytosis in Goto-Kakizaki rat β-cells subjected to long-term glinide or sulfonylurea treatment

Sulfonylurea and glinide drugs display different effects on insulin granule motion in single β-cells in vitro. We therefore investigated the different effects that these drugs manifest towards insulin release in an in vivo long-term treatment model. Diabetic GK (Goto-Kakizaki) rats were treated with nateglinide, glibenclamide or insulin for 6 weeks. Insulin granule motion in single β-cells and the expression of SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor-attachment protein receptor) proteins were then analysed. Perifusion studies showed that decreased first-phase insulin release was partially recovered when GK rats were treated with nateglinide or insulin for 6 weeks, whereas no first-phase release occurred with glibenclamide treatment. In accord with the perifusion results, TIRF (total internal reflection fluorescence) imaging of insulin exocytosis showed restoration of the decreased number of docked insulin granules and the fusion events from them during first-phase release for nateglinide or insulin, but not glibenclamide, treatment; electron microscopy results confirmed the TIRF microscopy data. Relative to vehicle-treated GK β-cells, an increased number of SNARE clusters were evident in nateglinide- or insulin-treated cells; a lesser increase was observed in glibenclamide-treated cells. Immunostaining for insulin showed that nateglinide treatment better preserved pancreatic islet morphology than did glibenclamide treatment. However, direct exposure of GK β-cells to these drugs could not restore the decreased first-phase insulin release nor the reduced numbers of docked insulin granules. We conclude that treatment of GK rats with nateglinide and glibenclamide varies in long-term effects on β-cell functions; nateglinide treatment appears overall to be more beneficial.

Motion Matters: Secretory Granule Motion Adjacent to the Plasma Membrane and Exocytosis

Total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy was used to monitor changes in individual granule motions related to the secretory response in chromaffin cells. Because the motions of granules are very small (tens of nanometers), instrumental noise in the quantitation of granule motion was taken into account. ATP and Ca2+, both of which prime secretion before fusion, also affect granule motion. Removal of ATP in permeabilized cells causes average granule motion to decrease. Nicotinic stimulation causes a calcium-dependent increase in average granule motion. This effect is more pronounced for granules that undergo exocytosis than for those that do not. Fusion is not preceded by a reduction in mobility. Granules sometimes move 100 nm or more up to and within a tenth of a second before fusion. Thus, the jittering motion of granules adjacent to the plasma membrane is regulated by factors that regulate secretion and may play a role in secretion. Motion continues until shortly before fusion, suggesting that interaction of granule and plasma membrane proteins is transient. Disruption of actin dynamics did not significantly alter granule motion.

TIRF imaging of docking and fusion of single insulin granule motion in primary rat pancreatic β-cells: different behaviour of granule motion between normal and Goto–Kakizaki diabetic rat β-cells

We imaged and analysed the motion of single insulin secretory granules near the plasma membrane in live pancreatic β-cells, from normal and diabetic Goto–Kakizaki (GK) rats, using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM). In normal rat primary β-cells, the granules that were fusing during the first phase originate from previously docked granules, and those during the second phase originate from ‘newcomers’. In diabetic GK rat β-cells, the number of fusion events from previously docked granules were markedly reduced, and, in contrast, the fusion from newcomers was still preserved. The dynamic change in the number of docked insulin granules showed that, in GK rat β-cells, the total number of docked insulin granules was markedly decreased to 35% of the initial number after glucose stimulation. Immunohistochemistry with anti-insulin antibody observed by TIRFM showed that GK rat β-cells had a marked decline of endogenous insulin granules docked to the plasma membrane. Thus our results indicate that the decreased number of docked insulin granules accounts for the impaired insulin release during the first phase of insulin release in diabetic GK rat β-cells.