Important role of phosphodiesterase 3B for the stimulatory action of cAMP on pancreatic beta-cell exocytosis and release of insulin

Cyclic AMP potentiates glucose-stimulated insulin release and mediates the stimulatory effects of hormones such as glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) on pancreatic beta-cells. By inhibition of cAMP-degrading phosphodiesterase (PDE) and, in particular, selective inhibition of PDE3 activity, stimulatory effects on insulin secretion have been observed. Molecular and functional information on beta-cell PDE3 is, however, scarce. To provide such information, we have studied the specific effects of the PDE3B isoform by adenovirus-mediated overexpression. In rat islets and rat insulinoma cells, approximate 10-fold overexpression of PDE3B was accompanied by a 6-8-fold increase in membrane-associated PDE3B activity. The cAMP concentration was significantly lowered in transduced cells (INS-1(832/13)), and insulin secretion in response to stimulation with high glucose (11.1 mm) was reduced by 40% (islets) and 50% (INS-1). Further, the ability of GLP-1 (100 nm) to augment glucose-stimulated insulin secretion was inhibited by approximately 30% (islets) and 70% (INS-1). Accordingly, when stimulating with cAMP, a substantial decrease (65%) in exocytotic capacity was demonstrated in patch-clamped single beta-cells. In untransduced insulinoma cells, application of the PDE3-selective inhibitor OPC3911 (10 microm) was shown to increase glucose-stimulated insulin release as well as cAMP-enhanced exocytosis. The findings suggest a significant role of PDE3B as an important regulator of insulin secretory processes.     

Enhanced cAMP protein kinase A signaling determines improved insulin secretion in a clonal insulin-producing beta-cell line (INS-1 832/13)

In type 2 diabetes, beta-cells become glucose unresponsive, contributing to hyperglycemia. To address this problem, we recently created clonal insulin-producing cell lines from the INS-1 insulinoma line, which exhibit glucose responsiveness ranging from poor to robust. Here, mechanisms that determine secretory performance were identified by functionally comparing glucose-responsive 832/13 beta-cells with glucose-unresponsive 832/2 beta-cells. Thus, insulin secretion from 832/13 cells maximally rose 8-fold in response to glucose, whereas 832/2 cells responded only 1.5-fold. Insulin content in both lines was similar, indicating that differences in stimulus-secretion coupling account for the differential secretory performance. Forskolin or isobutylmethylxanthine markedly enhanced insulin secretion from 832/13 but not from 832/2 cells, suggesting that cAMP is essential for the enhanced secretory performance of 832/13 cells. Indeed, 8-bromoadenosine-3',5'-cyclic monophosphorothioate, rp-isomer (Rp-8-Br-cAMPS) an inhibitor of protein kinase A (PKA), inhibited insulin secretion in response to glucose with or without forskolin. Interestingly, whereas forskolin markedly increased cAMP in 832/2 cells, 832/13 cells exhibited only a marginal rise in cAMP. This suggests that 832/13 cells are more sensitive to cAMP. Indeed, the cAMP-induced exocytotic response in patch-clamped 832/13 cells was 2-fold greater than in 832/2 cells. Furthermore, immunoblotting revealed that expression of the catalytic subunit of PKA was 2-fold higher in 832/13 cells. Moreover, when the regulatory subunit of PKA was overexpressed in 832/13 cells, to reduce the level of unbound and catalytically active kinase, insulin secretion and PKA activity were blunted. Our findings show that cAMP-PKA signaling correlates with secretory performance in beta-cells.     

Oleanolic acid enhances insulin secretion in pancreatic beta-cells

We investigated the effect of oleanolic acid, a plant-derived triterpenoid, on insulin secretion and content in pancreatic beta-cells and rat islets. Oleanolic acid significantly enhanced insulin secretion at basal and stimulatory glucose concentrations in INS-1 832/13 cells and enhanced acute glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in isolated rat islets. In the cell line the effects of oleanolic acid on insulin secretion were comparable to that of the sulfonylurea tolbutamide at basal glucose levels and with the incretin mimetic Exendin-4 under glucose-stimulated conditions, yet neither Ca(2+) nor cAMP rose in response to oleanolic acid. Chronic treatment with oleanolic acid increased total cellular insulin protein and mRNA levels. These effects may contribute to the anti-diabetic properties of this natural product.     

Expression and regulation of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases in human and rat pancreatic islets

As shown by transgenic mouse models and by using phosphodiesterase 3 (PDE3) inhibitors, PDE3B has an important role in the regulation of insulin secretion in pancreatic β-cells. However, very little is known about the regulation of the enzyme. Here, we show that PDE3B is activated in response to high glucose, insulin and cAMP elevation in rat pancreatic islets and INS-1 (832/13) cells. Activation by glucose was not affected by the presence of diazoxide. PDE3B activation was coupled to an increase as well as a decrease in total phosphorylation of the enzyme. In addition to PDE3B, several other PDEs were detected in human pancreatic islets: PDE1, PDE3, PDE4C, PDE7A, PDE8A and PDE10A. We conclude that PDE3B is activated in response to agents relevant for β-cell function and that activation is linked to increased as well as decreased phosphorylation of the enzyme. Moreover, we conclude that several PDEs are present in human pancreatic islets.     

Beta-cell-targeted overexpression of phosphodiesterase 3B in mice causes impaired insulin secretion, glucose intolerance, and deranged islet morphology

The second messenger cAMP mediates potentiation of glucose-stimulated insulin release. Use of inhibitors of cAMP-hydrolyzing phosphodiesterase (PDE) 3 and overexpression of PDE3B in vitro have demonstrated a regulatory role for this enzyme in insulin secretion. In this work, the physiological significance of PDE3B-mediated degradation of cAMP for the regulation of insulin secretion in vivo and glucose homeostasis was investigated in transgenic mice overexpressing PDE3B in pancreatic beta-cells. A 2-fold overexpression of PDE3B protein and activity blunted the insulin response to intravenous glucose, resulting in reduced glucose disposal. The effects were "dose"-dependent because mice overexpressing PDE3B 7-fold failed to increase insulin in response to glucose and hence exhibited pronounced glucose intolerance. Also, the insulin secretory response to intravenous glucagon-like peptide 1 was reduced in vivo. Similarly, islets stimulated in vitro exhibited reduced insulin secretory capacity in response to glucose and glucagon-like peptide 1. Perifusion experiments revealed that the reduction specifically affected the first phase of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Furthermore, morphological examinations demonstrated deranged islet cytoarchitecture. In conclusion, these results are consistent with an essential role for PDE3B in cAMP-mediated regulation of insulin release and glucose homeostasis.     

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometric analyses of phospholipids from INS-1 insulinoma cells: comparison to pancreatic islets and effects of fatty acid supplementation on phospholipid composition and insulin secretion

Insulin secretion by pancreatic islet beta-cells is impaired in diabetes mellitus, and normal beta-cells are enriched in phospholipids with arachidonate as sn-2 substituent. Such molecules may play structural roles in exocytotic membrane fusion or serve as substrates for phospholipases activated by insulin secretagogues. INS-1 insulinoma cells respond to secretagogues and permit the study of effects of culture with free fatty acids on phospholipid composition and secretion. INS-1 cell glycerophosphocholine (GPC) and glycerophosphoethanolamine (GPE) lipids are demonstrated here by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry to contain a lower fraction of molecules with arachidonate and a higher fraction with oleate as sn-2 substituent than native islets. Palmitic acid supplementation induces little change in these INS-1 cell lipids, but supplementation with linoleate or arachidonate induces a large rise in the fraction of INS-1 cell GPC species with polyunsaturated sn-2 substituents and a fall in oleate-containing species to yield a GPC profile similar to native islets. The fraction of GPE lipids comprised of plasmenylethanolamine species with polyunsaturated sn-2 substituents in early-passage INS-1 cells is similar to that of islets, but declines on serial passage. Such molecules might participate in exocytotic membrane fusion, and late-passage INS-1 cells have reduced insulin secretory responses. Arachidonate supplementation induces a rise in the fraction of INS-1 cell GPE lipids with polyunsaturated sn-2 substituents and partially restores responses to insulin secretagogues by late-passage INS-1 cells, but does not further amplify secretion by early-passage cells. Effects of extracellular free fatty acids on beta-cell phospholipid composition and secretory responses could be involved in changes in beta-cell function during the period of hyper-free fatty acidemia that precedes diabetes mellitus.     

Secretory and electrophysiological characteristics of insulin cells from gastrectomized mice: evidence for the existence of insulinotropic agents in the stomach

Mice were subjected to gastrectomy (GX) or sham operation (controls). Four to six weeks later the pancreatic islets were isolated and analysed for cAMP or alternatively incubated in a Krebs-Ringer based medium in an effort to study insulin secretion and cAMP accumulation in response to glucose or the adenylate cyclase activator forskolin. Freshly isolated islets from GX mice had higher cAMP content than islets from control mice, a difference that persisted after incubation for 1 h at a glucose concentration of 4 mmol/l. Addition of forskolin to this medium induced much greater cAMP and insulin responses in islets from GX mice than in islets from control mice. In contrast, the insulin response to high glucose (16.7 mmol/l) was much weaker in GX islets than in control islets. Glucose-induced insulin release was associated with a 2-fold rise in the cAMP content in control islets. Surprisingly no rise in cAMP was noted in GX islets incubated at high glucose. Capacitance measurements conducted on isolated insulin cells from GX mice revealed a much lower exocytotic response to a single 500 ms depolarisation (from -70 mV to zero) than in control insulin cells. Addition of cAMP to the cytosol enhanced the exocytotic response in insulin cells from control mice but not from GX mice. The depolarisation-triggered inward Ca(2+) current in insulin cells from GX mice did not differ from that in control mice, and hence the reduced exocytotic response following GX cannot be ascribed to a decreased Ca(2+) influx. Experiments involving a train of ten 500 ms depolarisations revealed that the exocytotic response was prominent in control insulin cells but modest in GX insulin cells. It seems that cAMP is capable of eliciting insulin release from insulin cells of GX mice only when cAMP is generated in a specific microdomain conceivably through the intervention of membrane-associated adenylate cyclases that can be activated by forskolin. The GX-evoked impairment of depolarisation-induced exocytosis and glucose-stimulated insulin release may reflect the lack of a gastric agent that serves to maintain an appropriate insulin response to glucose and an appropriate exocytotic response to depolarisation by raising cAMP in a special glucose-sensitive compartment possibly regulated by a soluble adenylate cyclase.     

Different secretory response of pancreatic islets and insulin secreting cell lines INS-1 and INS-1E to osmotic stimuli

Objective of this study was to characterize osmotically-induced insulin secretion in two tumor cell lines. We compared response of freshly isolated rat pancreatic islets and INS-1 and INS-1E tumor cell lines to high glucose, 30 % hypotonic medium and 20 % hypertonic medium. In Ca(2+)-containing medium glucose induced insulin release in all three cell types. Hypotonicity induced insulin secretion from islets and INS-1 cells but not from INS-1E cells, in which secretion was inhibited despite similar increase in cell volume in both cell types. GdCl(3) (100 micromol/l) did not affect insulin response from INS-1E cells to hypotonic challenge. Hypertonic medium inhibited glucose-induced insulin secretion from islets but not from tumor cells. Noradrenaline (1 micromol/l) inhibited glucose-induced but not swelling-induced insulin secretion from INS-1 cells. Surprisingly, perifusion with Ca(2+)-depleted medium showed distinct secretory response of INS-1E cells to hypotonicity while that of INS-1 cells was partially inhibited. Functioning glucose-induced insulin secretion is not sufficient prerequisite for hypotonicity-induced response in INS-1E cells suggesting that swelling-induced exocytosis is not essential step in the mechanism mediating glucose-induced insulin secretion. Both cell lines are resistant to inhibitory effect of hyperosmolarity on glucose-induced insulin secretion. Response of INS-1E cells to hypotonicity is inhibited by the presence of Ca(2+) in medium.     

Tranilast inhibits glucose-induced insulin secretion from pancreatic beta-cells.

Tranilast, N-(3,4-demethoxycinnamoyl)-anthranilic acid, is an anti-allergic agent identified as an inhibitor of mast cell degranulation. Recently, tranilast was shown to decrease albuminuria in a rat model of diabetic nephropathy and to ameliorate vascular hypertrophy in diabetic rats, suggesting that it may be clinically useful in the treatment of diabetic complications. However, the effects of tranilast on glucose tolerance have not been elucidated. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of tranilast on insulin secretion in pancreatic beta-cells. Treatment with tranilast significantly suppressed insulin secretion in INS-1E cells and rat islets induced by 16.7 mmol/l glucose. Furthermore, tranilast inhibited tolbutamide-induced insulin secretion. Treatment with tranilast increased (86)Rb (+) efflux from COS-1 cells in which pancreatic beta-cell-type ATP-sensitive K (+) (K (ATP)) channels were reconstructed and suppressed the cytosolic ATP/ADP ratio in INS-1E cells. Interestingly, treatment with tranilast enhanced glucose uptake in INS-1E cells. In the present study, we demonstrated that tranilast inhibited glucose- and tolbutamide-induced insulin secretion through the activation of K (ATP) channels in pancreatic beta-cells.     

Imidazoline NNC77-0074 stimulates Ca2+-evoked exocytosis in INS-1E cells by a phospholipase A2-dependent mechanism

We have previously demonstrated that the novel imidazoline compound (+)-2-(2-(4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazol-2-yl)-thiopene-2-yl-ethyl)-pyridine (NNC77-0074) increases insulin secretion from pancreatic beta-cells by stimulation of Ca(2+)-dependent exocytosis. Using capacitance measurements, we now show that NNC77-0074 stimulates exocytosis in clonal INS-1E cells. NNC77-0074-stimulated exocytosis was antagonised by the cytoplasmic phospholipase A(2) (cPLA(2)) inhibitors ACA and AACOCF(3) and in cells treated with antisense oligonucleotide against cPLA(2)alpha. NNC77-0074-evoked insulin secretion was likewise inhibited by ACA, AACOCF(3), and cPLA(2)alpha antisense oligonucleotide treatment. In pancreatic islets NNC77-0074 stimulated PLA(2) activity. We propose that cPLA(2)alpha plays an important role in the regulation of NNC77-0074-evoked exocytosis in insulin secreting beta-cells.     

Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion is not dependent on activation of protein kinase A

The involvement of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) in the exocytotic release of insulin from rat pancreatic islets was investigated using the Rp isomer of adenosine 3',5'-cyclic phosphorothioate (Rp-cAMPS). Preincubation of electrically permeabilised islets with Rp-cAMPS (1 mM, 1 h, 4 degrees C) inhibited cAMP-induced phosphorylation of islet proteins of apparent molecular weights in the range 20-90 kDa, but did not affect basal (50 nM Ca2+) nor Ca2(+)-stimulated (10 microM) protein phosphorylation. Similarly, Rp-cAMPS (500 microM) inhibited both cAMP- (100 microM) and 8BrcAMP-induced (100 microM) insulin secretion from electrically permeabilised islets without affecting Ca2(+)-stimulated (10 microM) insulin release. In intact islets, Rp-cAMPS (500 microM) inhibited forskolin (1 microM, 10 microM) potentiation of insulin secretion, but did not significantly impair the insulin secretory response to a range of glucose concentrations (2-20 mM). These results suggest that cAMP-induced activation of PKA is not essential for either basal or glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from rat islets.     

Overexpression of a modified human malonyl-CoA decarboxylase blocks the glucose-induced increase in malonyl-CoA level but has no impact on insulin secretion in INS-1-derived (832/13) beta-cells

The long-chain acyl-CoA (LC-CoA) model of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) holds that secretion is linked to a glucose-induced increase in malonyl-CoA level and accumulation of LC-CoA in the cytosol. We have previously tested the validity of this proposal by overexpressing goose malonyl-CoA decarboxylase (MCD) in INS-1 cells, but these studies have been criticized due to: 1) the small insulin secretion response (2-4-fold) of the INS-1 cells used; 2) unknown contribution of the ATP-sensitive K(+) (K(ATP)) channel-independent pathway of GSIS in INS-1 cells, which has been implicated as the site at which lipids regulate insulin granule exocytosis; and 3) deletion of the N-terminal mitochondrial targeting sequence, but not the C-terminal peroxisomal targeting sequence in the goose MCD construct, raising the possibility that a significant fraction of the overexpressed enzyme was localized to peroxisomes. To address these outstanding concerns, INS-1-derived 832/13 cells, which exhibit robust K(ATP) channel-dependent and -independent pathways of GSIS, were treated with a new adenovirus encoding human MCD lacking both its mitochondrial and peroxisomal targeting sequences (AdCMV-MCD Delta 5), resulting in large increases in cytosolic MCD activity. Treatment of 832/13 cells with AdCMV-MCD Delta 5 completely blocked the glucose-induced rise in malonyl-CoA and attenuated the inhibitory effect of glucose on fatty acid oxidation. However, MCD overexpression had no effect on K(ATP) channel-dependent or -independent GSIS in 832/13 cells. Furthermore, combined treatment of 832/13 cells with AdCMV-MCD Delta 5 and triacsin C, an inhibitor of long chain acyl-CoA synthetase that reduces LC-CoA levels, did not impair GSIS. These findings extend our previous observations and are not consistent with the LC-CoA hypothesis as originally set forth.     

Regulation of cAMP dynamics by Ca2+ and G protein-coupled receptors in the pancreatic beta-cell: a computational approach

In this report we describe a mathematical model for the regulation of cAMP dynamics in pancreatic beta-cells. Incretin hormones such as glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) increase cAMP and augment insulin secretion in pancreatic beta-cells. Imaging experiments performed in MIN6 insulinoma cells expressing a genetically encoded cAMP biosensor and loaded with fura-2, a calcium indicator, showed that cAMP oscillations are differentially regulated by periodic changes in membrane potential and GLP-1. We modeled the interplay of intracellular calcium (Ca(2+)) and its interaction with calmodulin, G protein-coupled receptor activation, adenylyl cyclases (AC), and phosphodiesterases (PDE). Simulations with the model demonstrate that cAMP oscillations are coupled to cytoplasmic Ca(2+) oscillations in the beta-cell. Slow Ca(2+) oscillations (<1 min(-1)) produce low-frequency cAMP oscillations, and faster Ca(2+) oscillations (>3-4 min(-1)) entrain high-frequency, low-amplitude cAMP oscillations. The model predicts that GLP-1 receptor agonists induce cAMP oscillations in phase with cytoplasmic Ca(2+) oscillations. In contrast, observed antiphasic Ca(2+) and cAMP oscillations can be simulated following combined glucose and tetraethylammonium-induced changes in membrane potential. The model provides additional evidence for a pivotal role for Ca(2+)-dependent AC and PDE activation in coupling of Ca(2+) and cAMP signals. Our results reveal important differences in the effects of glucose/TEA and GLP-1 on cAMP dynamics in MIN6 beta-cells.     

Pharmacological properties and functional role of Kslow current in mouse pancreatic beta-cells: SK channels contribute to Kslow tail current and modulate insulin secretion

The pharmacological properties of slow Ca(2+)-activated K(+) current (K(slow)) were investigated in mouse pancreatic beta-cells and islets to understand how K(slow) contributes to the control of islet bursting, [Ca(2+)](i) oscillations, and insulin secretion. K(slow) was insensitive to apamin or the K(ATP) channel inhibitor tolbutamide, but UCL 1684, a potent and selective nonpeptide SK channel blocker reduced the amplitude of K(slow) tail current in voltage-clamped mouse beta-cells. K(slow) was also selectively and reversibly inhibited by the class III antiarrythmic agent azimilide (AZ). In isolated beta-cells or islets, pharmacologic inhibition of K(slow) by UCL 1684 or AZ depolarized beta-cell silent phase potential, increased action potential firing, raised [Ca(2+)](i), and enhanced glucose-dependent insulin secretion. AZ inhibition of K(slow) also supported mediation by SK, rather than cardiac-like slow delayed rectifier channels since bath application of AZ to HEK 293 cells expressing SK3 cDNA reduced SK current. Further, AZ-sensitive K(slow) current was extant in beta-cells from KCNQ1 or KCNE1 null mice lacking cardiac slow delayed rectifier currents. These results strongly support a functional role for SK channel-mediated K(slow) current in beta-cells, and suggest that drugs that target SK channels may represent a new approach for increasing glucose-dependent insulin secretion. The apamin insensitivity of beta-cell SK current suggests that beta-cells express a unique SK splice variant or a novel heteromultimer consisting of different SK subunits.     

Imaging cyclic AMP changes in pancreatic islets of transgenic reporter mice

Cyclic AMP (cAMP) and Ca(2+) are two ubiquitous second messengers in transduction pathways downstream of receptors for hormones, neurotransmitters and local signals. The availability of fluorescent Ca(2+) reporter dyes that are easily introduced into cells and tissues has facilitated analysis of the dynamics and spatial patterns for Ca(2+) signaling pathways. A similar dissection of the role of cAMP has lagged because indicator dyes do not exist. Genetically encoded reporters for cAMP are available but they must be introduced by transient transfection in cell culture, which limits their utility. We report here that we have produced a strain of transgenic mice in which an enhanced cAMP reporter is integrated in the genome and can be expressed in any targeted tissue and with tetracycline induction. We have expressed the cAMP reporter in beta-cells of pancreatic islets and conducted an analysis of intracellular cAMP levels in relation to glucose stimulation, Ca(2+) levels, and membrane depolarization. Pancreatic function in transgenic mice was normal. In induced transgenic islets, glucose evoked an increase in cAMP in beta-cells in a dose-dependent manner. The cAMP response is independent of (in fact, precedes) the Ca(2+) influx that results from glucose stimulation of islets. Glucose-evoked cAMP responses are synchronous in cells throughout the islet and occur in 2 phases suggestive of the time course of insulin secretion. Insofar as cAMP in islets is known to potentiate insulin secretion, the novel transgenic mouse model will for the first time permit detailed analyses of cAMP signals in beta-cells within islets, i.e. in their native physiological context. Reporter expression in other tissues (such as the heart) where cAMP plays a critical regulatory role, will permit novel biomedical approaches.     

The L-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channel is the Ca2+ sensor protein of stimulus-secretion coupling in pancreatic beta cells

L-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channels (Cav1.2) mediate a major part of insulin secretion from pancreatic beta-cells. Cav1.2, like other voltage-gated Ca2+ channels, is functionally and physically coupled to synaptic proteins. The tight temporal coupling between channel activation and secretion leads to the prediction that rearrangements within the channel can be directly transmitted to the synaptic proteins, subsequently triggering release. La3+, which binds to the polyglutamate motif (EEEE) comprising the selectivity filter, is excluded from entry into the cells and has been previously shown to support depolarization-evoked catecholamine release from chromaffin and PC12 cells. Hence, voltage-dependent trigger of release relies on Ca2+ ions bound at the EEEE motif and not on cytosolic Ca2+ elevation. We show that glucose-induced insulin release in rat pancreatic islets and ATP release in INS-1E cells are supported by La3+ in nominally Ca2+-free solution. The release is inhibited by nifedipine. Fura 2 imaging of dispersed islet cells exposed to high glucose and La3+ in Ca2+-free solution detected no change in fluorescence; thus, La3+ is excluded from entry, and Ca2+ is not significantly released from intracellular stores. La3+ by interacting extracellularlly with the EEEE motif is sufficient to support glucose-induced insulin secretion. Voltage-driven conformational changes that engage the ion/EEEE interface are relayed to the exocytotic machinery prior to ion influx, allowing for a fast and tightly regulated process of release. These results confirm that the Ca2+ channel is a constituent of the exocytotic complex [Wiser et al. (1999) PNAS 96, 248-253] and the putative Ca2+-sensor protein of release.     

Glucose stimulates Ca2+ influx and insulin secretion in 2-week-old beta-cells lacking ATP-sensitive K+ channels

In adult beta-cells glucose-induced insulin secretion involves two mechanisms (a) a K(ATP) channel-dependent Ca(2+) influx and rise of cytosolic [Ca(2+)](c) and (b) a K(ATP) channel-independent amplification of secretion without further increase of [Ca(2+)](c). Mice lacking the high affinity sulfonylurea receptor (Sur1KO), and thus K(ATP) channels, have been developed as a model of congenital hyperinsulinism. Here, we compared [Ca(2+)](c) and insulin secretion in overnight cultured islets from 2-week-old normal and Sur1KO mice. Control islets proved functionally mature: the magnitude and biphasic kinetics of [Ca(2+)](c) and insulin secretion changes induced by glucose, and operation of the amplifying pathway, were similar to adult islets. Sur1KO islets perifused with 1 mm glucose showed elevation of both basal [Ca(2+)](c) and insulin secretion. Stimulation with 15 mm glucose produced a transient drop of [Ca(2+)](c) followed by an overshoot and a sustained elevation, accompanied by a monophasic, 6-fold increase in insulin secretion. Glucose also increased insulin secretion when [Ca(2+)](c) was clamped by KCl. When Sur1KO islets were cultured in 5 instead of 10 mm glucose, [Ca(2+)](c) and insulin secretion were unexpectedly low in 1 mm glucose and increased following a biphasic time course upon stimulation by 15 mm glucose. This K(ATP) channel-independent first phase [Ca(2+)](c) rise was attributed to a Na(+)-, Cl(-)-, and Na(+)-pump-independent depolarization of beta-cells, leading to Ca(2+) influx through voltage-dependent calcium channels. Glucose indeed depolarized Sur1KO islets under these conditions. It is suggested that unidentified potassium channels are sensitive to glucose and subserve the acute and long-term metabolic control of [Ca(2+)](c) in beta-cells without functional K(ATP) channels.     

Modulation of the pancreatic islet beta-cell-delayed rectifier potassium channel Kv2.1 by the polyunsaturated fatty acid arachidonate

Glucose stimulates both insulin secretion and hydrolysis of arachidonic acid (AA) esterified in membrane phospholipids of pancreatic islet beta-cells, and these processes are amplified by muscarinic agonists. Here we demonstrate that nonesterified AA regulates the biophysical activity of the pancreatic islet beta-cell-delayed rectifier channel, Kv2.1. Recordings of Kv2.1 currents from INS-1 insulinoma cells incubated with AA (5 mum) and subjected to graded degrees of depolarization exhibit a significantly shorter time-to-peak current interval than do control cells. AA causes a rapid decay and reduced peak conductance of delayed rectifier currents from INS-1 cells and from primary beta-cells isolated from mouse, rat, and human pancreatic islets. Stimulating mouse islets with AA results in a significant increase in the frequency of glucose-induced [Ca(2+)] oscillations, which is an expected effect of Kv2.1 channel blockade. Stimulation with concentrations of glucose and carbachol that accelerate hydrolysis of endogenous AA from islet phosphoplipids also results in accelerated Kv2.1 inactivation and a shorter time-to-peak current interval. Group VIA phospholipase A(2) (iPLA(2)beta) hydrolyzes beta-cell membrane phospholipids to release nonesterified fatty acids, including AA, and inhibiting iPLA(2)beta prevents the muscarinic agonist-induced accelerated Kv2.1 inactivation. Furthermore, glucose and carbachol do not significantly affect Kv2.1 inactivation in beta-cells from iPLA(2)beta(-/-) mice. Stably transfected INS-1 cells that overexpress iPLA(2)beta hydrolyze phospholipids more rapidly than control INS-1 cells and also exhibit an increase in the inactivation rate of the delayed rectifier currents. These results suggest that Kv2.1 currents could be dynamically modulated in the pancreatic islet beta-cell by phospholipase-catalyzed hydrolysis of membrane phospholipids to yield non-esterified fatty acids, such as AA, that facilitate Ca(2+) entry and insulin secretion.