title: Are metabolic oscillations responsible for normal oscillatory insulin secretion?
abstract: Normal insulin secretion is oscillatory in vivo and in vitro, with a period of approximately 5-10 min. The mechanism of generating these oscillations is not yet established, but a metabolic basis seems most likely for glucose-stimulated secretion. The rationale is that 1) spontaneous oscillatory operation of glycolysis is a well-established phenomenon; 2) oscillatory behavior of glycolysis involves oscillations in the ATP/ADP ratio, which can cause alternating opening and closing of ATP-sensitive K+ channels, leading to the observed oscillations in membrane potential and Ca2+ influx in pancreatic beta-cells, and may also have downstream effects on exocytosis; 3) spontaneous Ca2+ oscillations are an unlikely basis in this case, since intracellular stores are not of primary importance in the stimulus-secretion coupling, and furthermore, insulin oscillations occur under conditions when intracellular Ca2+ levels are not changing; 4) a neural basis cannot account for insulin oscillations from perifused islets and clonal beta-cells or from transplanted islets or pancreas in vivo; 5) observed oscillations in metabolite levels and fluxes further support a metabolic basis, as does the presence in beta-cells of the oscillatory isoform of phosphofructokinase (PFK-M). The fact that normal oscillatory secretion is impaired in patients with NIDDM and in their near relatives suggests that such derangement may be involved in the development of the disease; furthermore, this probably reflects an early defect in the regulation and operation of the fuel metabolizing/sensing pathways of the pancreatic beta-cell.
authors.affiliation: Evans Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Massachusetts 02118, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tornheim
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000502:physiology; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005947:Glucose / Q000502:physiology; D006019:Glycolysis; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism*; D000078790:Insulin Secretion; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000378:metabolism*; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000378:metabolism; D010507:Periodicity; D010732:Phosphofructokinase-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D010732:Phosphofructokinase-1; D005947:Glucose; D002118:Calcium