Pancreatic β-Cell Electrical Activity and Insulin Secretion: Of Mice and Men

The pancreatic β-cell plays a key role in glucose homeostasis by secreting insulin, the only hormone capable of lowering the blood glucose concentration. Impaired insulin secretion results in the chronic hyperglycemia that characterizes type 2 diabetes (T2DM), which currently afflicts >450 million people worldwide. The healthy β-cell acts as a glucose sensor matching its output to the circulating glucose concentration. It does so via metabolically induced changes in electrical activity, which culminate in an increase in the cytoplasmic Ca 2+ concentration and initiation of Ca 2+ -dependent exocytosis of insulin-containing secretory granules. Here, we review recent advances in our understanding of the β-cell…

• W
  Wellcome

  Awards: 95531, 89795
• BA
  Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

  Awards: BB/R002517/1, BB/R017220/1
• ER
  European Research Council

  Award: 322620