Insulinotropic toxins as molecular probes for analysis of glucagon-likepeptide-1 receptor-mediated signal transduction in pancreatic beta-cells.

ABSTRACT: Cholera toxin, pertussis toxin, mastoparan, maitotoxin, and alpha-latrotoxin are complex protein or polyether-based toxins of bacterial, insect, or phytoplankton origin that act with high potency at the endocrine pancreas to stimulate secretion of insulin from beta-cells located in the islets of Langerhans. The remarkable insulinotropic properties of these toxins have attracted considerable attention by virtue of their use as selective molecular probes for analyses of beta-cell stimulus-secretion coupling. Targets of the toxins include heptahelical cell surface receptors, GTP-binding proteins, ion channels, Ca(2+) stores, and the exocytotic secretory apparatus. Here we review the value of insulinotropic toxins from the perspective of their established use in the study of signal transductio

SUBMITTER: Holz GG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2928854 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Sep-Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature