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α-cell electrophysiology and the regulation of glucagon secretion.

ABSTRACT: Glucagon is the principal glucose-elevating hormone that forms the first-line defence against hypoglycaemia. Along with insulin, glucagon also plays a key role in maintaining systemic glucose homeostasis. The cells that secrete glucagon, pancreatic α-cells, are electrically excitable cells and use electrical activity to couple its hormone secretion to changes in ambient glucose levels. Exactly how glucose regulates α-cells has been a topic of debate for decades but it is clear that electrical signals generated by the cells play an important role in glucagon secretory response. Decades of studies have already revealed the key players involved in the generation of these electrical signals and possible mechanisms controlling them to tune glucagon release. This has offered the opportunity to fully understand the enigmatic α-cell physiology. In this review, we describe the current knowledge on cellular electrophysiology and factors regulating excitability, glucose sensing, and glucagon secretion. We also discuss α-cell pathophysiology and the perspective of addressing glucagon secretory defects in diabetes for developing better diabetes treatment, which bears the hope of eliminating hypoglycaemia as a clinical problem in diabetes care.

SUBMITTER: Gao R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10326640 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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α-cell electrophysiology and the regulation of glucagon secretion.

Gao Rui R Acreman Samuel S Ma Jinfang J Abdulkader Fernando F Wendt Anna A Zhang Quan Q

The Journal of endocrinology 20230626 2

Glucagon is the principal glucose-elevating hormone that forms the first-line defence against hypoglycaemia. Along with insulin, glucagon also plays a key role in maintaining systemic glucose homeostasis. The cells that secrete glucagon, pancreatic α-cells, are electrically excitable cells and use electrical activity to couple its hormone secretion to changes in ambient glucose levels. Exactly how glucose regulates α-cells has been a topic of debate for decades but it is clear that electrical si ...[more]

PMID: 37159865

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Project description:ObjectivePancreatic islets are nutrient sensors that regulate organismal blood glucose homeostasis. Glucagon release from the pancreatic α-cell is important under fasted, fed, and hypoglycemic conditions, yet metabolic regulation of α-cells remains poorly understood. Here, we identified a previously unexplored role for physiological levels of leucine, which is classically regarded as a β-cell fuel, in the intrinsic regulation of α-cell glucagon release.MethodsGcgCreERT:CAMPER and GcgCreERT:GCaMP6s mice were generated to perform dynamic, high-throughput functional measurements of α-cell cAMP and Ca2+ within the intact islet. Islet perifusion assays were used for simultaneous, time-resolved measurements of glucagon and insulin release from mouse and human islets. The effects of leucine were compared with glucose and the mitochondrial fuels 2-aminobicyclo(2,2,1)heptane-2-carboxylic acid (BCH, non-metabolized leucine analog that activates glutamate dehydrogenase), α-ketoisocaproate (KIC, leucine metabolite), and methyl-succinate (complex II fuel). CYN154806 (Sstr2 antagonist), diazoxide (KATP activator, which prevents Ca2+-dependent exocytosis from α, β, and δ-cells), and dispersed α-cells were used to inhibit islet paracrine signaling and identify α-cell intrinsic effects.ResultsMimicking the effect of glucose, leucine strongly suppressed amino acid-stimulated glucagon secretion. Mechanistically, leucine dose-dependently reduced α-cell cAMP at physiological concentrations, with an IC50 of 57, 440, and 1162 μM at 2, 6, and 10 mM glucose, without affecting α-cell Ca2+. Leucine also reduced α-cell cAMP in islets treated with Sstr2 antagonist or diazoxide, as well as dispersed α-cells, indicating an α-cell intrinsic effect. The effect of leucine was matched by KIC and the glutamate dehydrogenase activator BCH, but not methyl-succinate, indicating a dependence on mitochondrial anaplerosis. Glucose, which stimulates anaplerosis via pyruvate carboxylase, had the same suppressive effect on α-cell cAMP but with lower potency. Similarly to mouse islets, leucine suppressed glucagon secretion from human islets under hypoglycemic conditions.ConclusionsThese findings highlight an important role for physiological levels of leucine in the metabolic regulation of α-cell cAMP and glucagon secretion. Leucine functions primarily through an α-cell intrinsic effect that is dependent on glutamate dehydrogenase, in addition to the well-established α-cell regulation by β/δ-cell paracrine signaling. Our results suggest that mitochondrial anaplerosis-cataplerosis facilitates the glucagonostatic effect of both leucine and glucose, which cooperatively suppress α-cell tone by reducing cAMP.

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α-cell electrophysiology and the regulation of glucagon secretion.

Publications

α-cell electrophysiology and the regulation of glucagon secretion.

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