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Virginia Commonwealth University
MOUSE BETA-CELLS; INSULIN-SECRETION; B-CELLS; PULSATILE INSULIN; OSCILLATIONS; LANGERHANS; CA2+; PROPAGATION; CONNEXIN36; MECHANISMS
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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
Gap Junction Coupling And Calcium Waves In The Pancreatic Islet, Richard K.P. Benninger, Min Zhang, W. Steven Head, Leslie S. Satin, David W. Piston
Gap Junction Coupling And Calcium Waves In The Pancreatic Islet, Richard K.P. Benninger, Min Zhang, W. Steven Head, Leslie S. Satin, David W. Piston
Pharmacology and Toxicology Publications
Abstract
The pancreatic islet is a highly coupled, multicellular system that exhibits complex spatiotemporal electrical activity in response to elevated glucose levels. The emergent properties of islets, which differ from those arising in isolated islet cells, are believed to arise in part by gap junctional coupling, but the mechanisms through which this coupling occurs are poorly understood. To uncover these mechanisms, we have used both high-speed imaging and theoretical modeling of the electrical activity in pancreatic islets under a reduction in the gap junction mediated electrical coupling. Utilizing islets from a gap junction protein connexin 36 knockout mouse model together …