A role for calcium release-activated current (CRAC) in cholinergic modulation of electrical activity in pancreatic beta-cells.

S. Bordin and colleagues have proposed that the depolarizing effects of acetylcholine and other muscarinic agonists on pancreatic beta-cells are mediated by a calcium release-activated current (CRAC). We support this hypothesis with additional data, and present a theoretical model which accounts for most known data on muscarinic effects. Additional phenomena, such as the biphasic responses of beta-cells to changes in glucose concentration and the depolarizing effects of the sarco-endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase pump poison thapsigargin, are also accounted for by our model. The ability of this single hypothesis, that CRAC is present in beta-cells, to explain so many phenomena motivates a more complete characterization of this current.