title: Subcellular glucose exposure biases the spatial distribution of insulin granules in single pancreatic beta cells.
abstract: In living tissues, a cell is exposed to chemical substances delivered partially to its surface. Such a heterogeneous chemical environment potentially induces cell polarity. To evaluate this effect, we developed a microfluidic device that realizes spatially confined delivery of chemical substances at subcellular resolution. Our microfluidic device allows simple setup and stable operation for over 4 h to deliver chemicals partially to a single cell. Using the device, we showed that subcellular glucose exposure triggers an intracellular [Ca(2+)] change in the β-cells. In addition, the imaging of a cell expressing GFP-tagged insulin showed that continuous subcellular exposure to glucose biased the spatial distribution of insulin granules toward the site where the glucose was delivered. Our approach illustrates an experimental technique that will be applicable to many biological experiments for imaging the response to subcellular chemical exposure and will also provide new insights about the development of polarity of β-cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Intelligent Mechanical Systems Engineering, Kagawa University, Takamatsu 761-0396, Japan.
authors.forename: Kyohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Terao
authors.affiliation: CSIRO, Material Science and Engineering, Clayton, VIC 3030, Australia.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gel
authors.affiliation: Department of Microengineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsuhito
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Okonogi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microengineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Ariko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fuke
authors.affiliation: Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan.
authors.forename: Teru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okitsu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tada
authors.affiliation: Department of Intelligent Mechanical Systems Engineering, Kagawa University, Takamatsu 761-0396, Japan.
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo 181-8611, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nagamatsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Washizu
authors.affiliation: Department of Microengineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidetoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kotera
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D003594:Cytoplasmic Granules / Q000378:metabolism*; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism*; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D005947:Glucose