Cytosolic pH and pancreatic beta-cell function

Ca(2+)-dependent desensitization of insulin secretion by strong potassium depolarization

Depolarization by a high K(+) concentration is a widely used experimental tool to stimulate insulin secretion. The effects occurring after the initial rise in secretion were investigated here. After the initial peak a fast decline occurred, which was followed by a slowly progressive decrease in secretion when a strong K(+) depolarization was used. At 40 mM KCl, but not at lower concentrations, the decrease continued when the glucose concentration was raised from 5 to 10 mM, suggesting an inhibitory effect of the K(+) depolarization. When tolbutamide was added instead of the glucose concentration being raised, a complete inhibition down to prestimulatory values was observed. Equimolar reduction of the NaCl concentration to preserve isoosmolarity enabled an increase in secretion in response to glucose. Unexpectedly, the same was true when the Na(+)-reduced media were made hyperosmolar by choline chloride or mannitol. The insulinotropic effect of tolbutamide was not rescued by the compensatory reduction of NaCl, suggesting a requirement for activated energy metabolism. These inhibitory effects could not be explained by a lack of depolarizing strength or by a diminished free cytosolic Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)). Rather, the complexation of extracellular Ca(2+) concomitant with the K(+) depolarization markedly diminished [Ca(2+)](i) and attenuated the inhibitory action of 40 mM KCl. This suggests that a strong but not a moderate depolarization by K(+) induces a [Ca(2+)](i)-dependent, slowly progressive desensitization of the secretory machinery. In contrast, the decline immediately following the initial peak of secretion may result from the inactivation of voltage-dependent Ca(2+) channels.

HCO 3--dependent volume regulation in alpha-cells of the rat endocrine pancreas

Ion transport activity in pancreatic α-cells was assessed by studying cell volume regulation in response to anisotonic solutions. Cell volume was measured by a video imaging method, and cells were superfused with either 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine-1-ethanesulfonic acid-buffered or HCO₃⁻-buffered solutions. α-Cells did not exhibit a regulatory volume increase (RVI) in response to cell shrinkage caused by hypertonic solutions. A RVI was observed, however, in cells that had first undergone a regulatory volume decrease (RVD), but only in HCO₃⁻-buffered solutions. RVI was also observed in response to a HCO₃⁻-buffered hypertonic solution in which the glucose concentration was increased from 4 to 20 mM. The post-RVD RVI and the glucose-induced RVI were both inhibited by 10 μM 5-(N-methyl-N-isobutyl) amiloride or 100 μM 2,2′-(1,2-ethenediyl) bis (5-isothio-cyanatobenzenesulfonic acid), but not by 10 μM benzamil nor 10 μM bumetanide. These data suggest that Na⁺–H⁺ exchangers and Cl⁻–HCO₃⁻ exchangers contribute to volume regulation in α-cells.

Glucose-induced swelling in rat pancreatic alpha-cells

Pancreatic beta-cells increase in volume when exposed to elevated concentrations of extracellular glucose. This study has examined the effects of glucose on the volumes of pancreatic alpha-cells, which like beta-cells are regulated by glucose, and intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells which are unresponsive to glucose. Cell volume changes were monitored by a video-imaging method. Increasing the extracellular glucose concentration caused a concentration-dependent increase in alpha-cell volume over the range 1-20mM. Glucose-induced swelling was not, however, observed in Caco-2 cells. The glucose-induced swelling in both alpha- and beta-cells was abolished by 0.5mM phloretin, an inhibitor of the GLUT proteins, indicating that GLUT mediated glucose transport is a pre-requisite for swelling. Glucose metabolism also appears to be essential, as islet cell swelling was not observed with 16 mM 3-O-methyl glucose. These data suggest that glucose-induced swelling may be a property exclusive to glucose-regulated cells.

Diphenylhydantoin suppresses glucose-induced insulin release by decreasing cytoplasmic H+ concentration in pancreatic islets

Diphenylhydantoin (DPH), which is clinically used in the treatment of epilepsy, inhibits glucose-induced insulin release from pancreatic islets by a mechanism that remains unknown. In the present study, DPH is shown to suppress glucose-induced insulin release concentration-dependently. In dynamic experiments, 20 microm DPH suppressed 16.7 mm glucose-induced biphasic insulin release. DPH also suppressed insulin release in the presence of 16.7 mm glucose, 200 microm diazoxide, and 30 mm K+ without affecting the intracellular Ca2+ concentration. DPH suppressed ATP content and mitochondrial membrane hyperpolarization in the presence of 16.7 mm glucose without affecting glucose utilization, glucose oxidation, and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate fluorescence. DPH increased cytoplasmic pH in the presence of high glucose, but the increase was abolished under Na+ -deprived conditions and HCO3- -deprived conditions, suggesting that Na+ and HCO3- transport across the plasma membrane are involved in the increase in cytoplasmic pH by DPH. Alkalization by adding NH4+ to the extracellular medium also suppressed insulin release, ATP content, and mitochondrial membrane hyperpolarization. Because ATP production from the mitochondrial fraction in the presence of substrates was decreased by increased pH in the medium, DPH suppresses mitochondrial ATP production by reducing the H+ gradient across mitochondrial membrane. Using permeabilized islets, the increase in pH was shown to decrease Ca2+ efficacy at a clamped concentration of ATP in the exocytotic system. Taken together, DPH inhibits glucose-induced insulin secretion not only by inhibiting mitochondrial ATP production, but also by reducing Ca2+ efficacy in the exocytotic system through its alkalizing effect on cytoplasm.

Multiphasic action of glucose and alpha-ketoisocaproic acid on the cytosolic pH of pancreatic beta-cells. Evidence for an acidification pathway linked to the stimulation of Ca2+ influx

Glucose stimulation raises the pHi of pancreatic beta-cells, but the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. We have now investigated the acute effects of metabolizable (glucose and the mitochondrial substrate alpha-ketoisocaproic acid, KIC) and nonmetabolizable (high K+ and the K-ATP channel blocker tolbutamide) insulin secretagogues on the pHi of pancreatic beta-cells isolated from normal mice, as assessed by BCECF fluorescence from single cells or islets in the presence of external bicarbonate. The typical acute effect of glucose (22-30 mM) on the pHi was a fast alkalinization of approximately 0.11 unit, followed by a slower acidification. The relative expression of the alkalinizing and acidifying components was variable, with some cells and islets displaying a predominant alkalinization, others a predominant acidification, and others yet a mixed combination of the two. The initial alkalinization preceded the [Ca2+]i rise associated with the activation of voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channels. There was a significant overlap between the glucose-evoked [Ca2+]i rise and the development of the secondary acidification. Depolarization with 30 mM K+ and tolbutamide evoked pronounced [Ca2+]i rises and concomitant cytosolic acidifications. Blocking glucose-induced Ca2+ influx (with 0 Ca2+, nifedipine, or the K-ATP channel agonist diazoxide) suppressed the secondary acidification while having variable effects (potentiation or slight attenuation) on the initial alkalinization. KIC exerted glucose-like effects on the pHi and [Ca2+]i, but the amplitude of the initial alkalinization was about twice as large for KIC relative to glucose. It is concluded that the acute effect of glucose on the pHi of pancreatic beta-cells is biphasic. While the initial cytosolic alkalinization is an immediate consequence of the activation of H+-consuming metabolic steps in the mitochondria, the secondary acidification appears to originate from enhanced Ca2+ turnover in the cytoplasm. The degree of coupling between glucose metabolism and Ca2+ influx as well as the relative efficacies of these processes determines whether the acute pHi response of a beta-cell (or of a tightly coupled multicellular system such as an islet of Langerhans) is predominantly an alkalinization, an acidification, or a mixed proportion of the two.

Intracellular pH, cytosolic calcium concentration and electrical activity in RINm5F insulinoma cells

The addition of L-lactate or acetate to RINm5F cells caused a transient intracellular acidification, an increase in [Ca2+]i and induced electrical activity. The subsequent withdrawal of lactate or acetate resulted in an intracellular alkalinization with no apparent changes in [Ca2+]i nor electrical activity. Intracellular alkalinization and acidification by application by application and withdrawal of NH4Cl were both accompanied by transient increases in [Ca2+]i in the absence of electrical activity. The induction of electrical activity by lactate was associated with the appearance of inward whole cell currents. Changes in intracellular pH may affect [Ca2+]i though not necessarily by altering plasma membrane potential. The inward currents associated with lactate application may represent an organic anion conductance contributing towards the stimulation of electrical activity by organic acids.

Characterization of the inhibition by stilbene disulphonates and phloretin of lactate and pyruvate transport into rat and guinea-pig cardiac myocytes suggests the presence of two kinetically distinct carriers in heart cells

1. The kinetics of transport of pyruvate (Km 0.20 mM), L-lactate (Km 2.2 mM) and D-lactate (Ki 10.2 mM) into rat cardiac myocytes were studied and compared with those for guinea-pig heart cells [Poole, Halestrap, Price and Levi (1989) Biochem. J. 264, 409-418] whose equivalent values were 0.07, 2.3 and 6.6 mM respectively. Maximal rates of transport were about 5-fold higher in the rat heart cells. 2. 4,4'-Dibenzamidostilbene-2,2'-disulphonate (DBDS), a powerful inhibitor of monocarboxylate transport into erythrocytes [Poole & Halestrap (1991) Biochem. J. 275, 307-312], was found to be a potent but apparently partial inhibitor of lactate and pyruvate transport, with an apparent Ki value at 0.5 mM L-lactate of about 16 microM in both species. Maximal inhibition was 50% and 80% in rat and guinea-pig cells respectively. 3. The maximal extent of inhibition and apparent Ki values were dependent on both the substrate transported and its concentration. Maximum inhibition was less and the Ki was greater at higher substrate concentrations. 4. A variety of other stilbene disulphonates were studied which showed different Ki values and maximal extents of inhibition. 5. Phloretin was a significantly less potent inhibitor of transport into both rat (Ki 25 microM) and guinea-pig (Ki 16 microM) heart cells than into rat erythrocytes (Ki 1.4 microM). In the rat but not the guinea-pig heart cells, inhibition appeared partial (maximal inhibition 84%). 6. We demonstrate that our results can be explained by the presence of two monocarboxylate carriers in heart cells, both with Km values for L-lactate of about 2 mM and inhibited by alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamate, but with different affinities for other substrates and inhibitors. One carrier is sensitive to inhibition by stilbene disulphonates and has lower Km values for pyruvate (0.05-0.10 mM) and D-lactate (5 mM), whereas the other has higher Km values for pyruvate (0.30 mM) and D-lactate (25 mM), and is relatively insensitive to stilbene disulphonates. Rat heart cells possess more of the latter carrier and guinea-pig heart cells more of the former. 7. The significance of these results for the study of lactate transport in the perfused heart is discussed.

Regulation of Na+/Ca2+ exchange in the rat pancreatic B cell

Na+/Ca2+ exchange in the B cell was recently characterized by measuring intracellular-Na(+)-dependent 45Ca2+ uptake in isolated rat pancreatic islet cells. The aim of the present study was to investigate the regulation of this process. Extracellular pH (pHo) and intracellular pH (pHi) markedly affected Na+/Ca2+ exchange. A fall of 0.04 unit in pHi decreased the exchange by 45%, whereas a rise of 0.13 unit increased the uptake by 70%. Mitochondrial poisons (oligomycin, antimycin A and 2,4-dinitrophenol) inhibited reverse Na+/Ca2+ exchange by about 25-50%. The exchanger displayed a low Q10 (temperature coefficient), indicating that it is only indirectly dependent on metabolic energy. The phorbol ester phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate did not affect Na+/Ca2+ exchange. Likewise, lowering the extracellular K+ concentration did not inhibit 45Ca2+ uptake. In conclusion, the pHi and the metabolic state of the cell may represent important modulatory signals by which insulin secretagogues such as glucose could regulate reverse Na+/Ca2+ exchange in the B cell. The process does not appear to co-transport K+ nor to be influenced by protein kinase C.