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Glucose-induced increase of cytoplasmic Ca2+ in pancreatic beta-cells is usually manifested as slow oscillations from the basal level. The significance of this rhythmicity for maintaining normal beta-cell function with periodic variations of circulating insulin made it of interest to investigate how the oscillatory Ca2+ signal was affected by various amino acids. Individual mouse beta-cells were very sensitive to alanine, glycine and arginine, sometimes responding with a transformation of the oscillations into sustained elevation of cytoplasmic Ca2+ at amino acid concentrations as low as 0.1 mM. Stimulation of the entry of Ca2+, obtained either by raising the extracellular concentration or by prolonging the open state of the voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels with BAY K 8644, resulted in reappearance of the rhythmic activity in the presence of the amino acids. Oscillatory Ca2+ signals in intact islets were more resistant to transformation by amino acids than those of individual beta-cells. It is therefore suggested that signals from the adjacent cells make it possible for beta-cells situated in islets to overcome a suppression of the oscillatory activity otherwise seen in the presence of alanine, glycine or arginine.
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External ATP is supposed to trigger short-lived increases (transients) of cytoplasmic Ca2+ important for entraining insulin-secreting β-cells into a common rhythm. To get insight into this process, rises of the cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) induced by external ATP were compared with those obtained with acetylcholine, another neurotransmitter with stimulatory effects on the inositol trisphosphate (IP3) production. A ratiometric fura-2 technique was used for measuring [Ca2+]i in individual β-cells and small aggregates isolated from ob/ob mouse islets and superfused with a medium containing methoxyverapamil. ATP and acetylcholine induced temporary rises of [Ca2+]I from a basal level manifested as solitary transients (<20 s) and bumps (≥20 s) superimposed or not with transients. Addition of ATP (1–100 μM) usually triggered transients whereas acetylcholine induced bumps lacking superimposed transients. After the initial rise there was a steady-state elevation of [Ca2+]i in β-cells exposed to acetylcholine but not to ATP. Similar differences were seen comparing the responses of rat β-cells to 100 μM ATP and acetylcholine. Inhibition of the sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA) pump (with 50 μM cyclopiazonic acid) prevented both the ATP-induced rise of [Ca2+]i and the spontaneous firing of transients. Similar effects were seen after activation of protein kinase C (10 nM phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate), whereas an inhibitor of this enzyme (2 μM bisindolylmaleimide) promoted the generation of transients. The results indicate that ATP fulfils the demands for a coordinator of the secretory activity of β-cells by generating distinct [Ca2+]i transients without sustained elevation of basal [Ca2+]i.
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SUMMARY
Chemical micromethods and histochemical staining were employed for studies of the enzymic hydrolysis of inosine diphosphate (IDP) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and the non-specific acid phosphatase activity of the endocrine pancreas from normal and cortisone-treated rats. The following observations were made:
1. Enzymic dephosphorylation of IDP and ADP was maximal at about pH 8·0. Magnesium and manganese ions enhanced the phosphate liberation, the hydrolysis of ADP being more activated than that of IDP. A marked inhibition of enzyme activity towards either substrate was produced by sodium fluoride, sodium cyanide and ethylene-diaminotetraacetate. Acid phosphatase activity was maximal at about pH 5·5, a tendency for a second activity optimum was noted at about pH 4·0. Acid phosphatase activity was markedly inhibited by sodium fluoride, tartaric acid and formaldehyde.
2. Histochemical staining revealed marked enzyme activity towards IDP and ADP in the capillaries and walls of the large blood vessels throughout the pancreas, whereas the islet cells displayed a moderate reaction. The staining intensity was the same with IDP as with ADP.
3. Cortisone administration reduced the rate of cleavage of both IDP and ADP in both the endocrine and the exocrine pancreas, but the enzymic splitting of these substrates remained unchanged in the liver. Acid phosphatase activity was not influenced in any of these tissues by the steroid treatment.
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SUMMARY
Several investigations in vivo and in vitro have shown that gastrointestinal hormones stimulate insulin secretion. Whether gastrin also has such an effect was tested both with the isolated mouse pancreas and with micro-dissected pancreatic islets from obese-hyperglycaemic mice. A fairly low concentration of human synthetic gastrin I (0·15 μg./ml.) was found to inhibit the stimulation of insulin release normally obtained with increasing glucose concentrations. However, when a higher concentration of gastrin was tested on the isolated pancreas in the presence of a low glucose concentration there was a stimulation of insulin secretion.
