Identification of the alpha-stereospecific glucosensor in the pancreatic B-cell

Return of the glucoreceptor: Glucose activates the glucose-sensing receptor T1R3 and facilitates metabolism in pancreatic β-cells

Subunits of the sweet taste receptor, namely T1R2 and T1R3, are expressed in mouse pancreatic islets. Quantitatively, the expression of messenger ribonucleic acid for T1R2 is much lower than that of T1R3, and immunoreactive T1R2 is in fact undetectable. Presumably, a homodimer of T1R3 could function as a signaling receptor. Activation of this receptor by adding an artificial sweetener, sucralose, leads to an increase in intracellular adenosine triphosphate ([ATP]_c). This increase in [ATP]_c is observed in the absence of ambient glucose. Sucralose also augments elevation of [ATP]_c induced by methylsuccinate, a substrate for mitochondria. Consequently, activation of T1R3 promotes metabolism in mitochondria and increases [ATP]_c. 3-O-Methylglucose, a non-metabolizable analog of glucose, also increases [ATP]_c. Conversely, knockdown of T1R3 attenuates elevation of [ATP]_c induced by glucose. Hence, glucose promotes its own metabolism by activating T1R3 and augmenting ATP production. Collectively, a homodimer of T1R3 functions as a cell surface glucose-sensing receptor and participates in the action of glucose on insulin secretion. The glucose-sensing receptor T1R3 might be the putative glucoreceptor proposed decades ago by Niki et al. The glucose-sensing receptor is involved in the action of glucose and modulates glucose metabolism in pancreatic β-cells.

Anomeric specificity of D-[U-14C]glucose incorporation into glycogen in rat hemidiaphragms

The anomeric specificity of D-[U-14C]glucose incorporation into glycogen in rat hemidiaphragms was investigated. For this purpose, the hemidiaphragms were preincubated for 30 min at 37 degrees C and then incubated for 5 min at the same temperature in the presence of alpha- or beta-D-[U-14C]glucose. The concentrations of D-glucose (5.6 or 8.8 mM) and insulin (0 or 10 mU/ml) were identical during the preincubation and incubation periods. The incubation medium was prepared in D2O/H2O (3:1, v/v) in order to delay the interconversion of the D-glucose anomers. In addition to glycogen labelling, the output of radioactive acidic metabolites was also measured. Insulin caused a preferential stimulation of glycogen labelling relative to glycolysis. Such was not the case in response to a rise in D-glucose concentration. At 5.6 mM D-glucose and whether in the presence or absence of insulin, both glycogen labelling and glycolysis were lower with alpha-D-glucose than with beta-D-glucose suggesting a higher rate of beta-D-glucose than alpha-D-glucose transport across the plasma membrane. A mirror image was found at 8.8 mM D-glucose, especially in the absence of insulin. At this close-to-physiological hexose concentration, insulin lowered the alpha/beta ratio for glycogen labelling. On the contrary, the rise in D-glucose concentration increased such a ratio. Since such a rise is probably little affected by any possible anomeric difference in D-glucose transport across the plasma membrane, the present results strongly suggest that the intracellular factors regulating net glycogen synthesis, as well as glycolytic flux, display obvious preference for alpha-D-glucose.

Alpha- and beta-anomeric preference of glucose-induced insulin secretion at physiological and higher glucose concentrations, respectively

We determined the anomeric preference of glucose phosphorylation by islet glucokinase, glucose utilization by pancreatic islets, and insulin secretion induced by glucose over a wide range of glucose concentrations. alpha-D-Glucose was phosphorylated faster than beta-D-glucose by islet glucokinase at lower glucose concentrations (5 and 10 mM), whereas the opposite anomeric preference was observed at higher glucose concentrations (40 and 60 mM). At 20 mM, there was no significant difference in phosphorylation rate between the two anomers. Similar patterns of anomeric preference were observed both in islet glucose utilization and in glucose-induced insulin secretion. The present study affords strong evidence that glucokinase is responsible for the anomeric preference of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion through anomeric discrimination in islet glucose utilization.

Interactions of alpha-ketoisocaproate, glucose and arginine in the secretion of glucagon and insulin from the perfused rat pancreas

The effects of alpha-ketoisocaproate (KIC, 10 mmol/l) on glucagon and insulin release were studied in the in vitro perfused rat pancreas. The experiments were performed at low glucose concentration (3.3 mmol/l) in the absence or presence of arginine (10 mmol/l). In all the experiments KIC induced a marked and not rapidly reversible inhibition of glucagon release. This inhibition was more pronounced in the absence (76 percent) than presence of arginine (61 percent). These inhibitory patterns closely duplicated those which were seen in parallel experiments which included a rise in the concentration of glucose (from 3.3 to 11.1 mmol/l). KIC was also a potent stimulator of insulin release. The results are compatible with the view that the intracellular metabolism of KIC and glucose plays an essential role in the regulation of glucagon release by exogenous substrates.

Insulin release: the fuel hypothesis

The immediate and direct regulation of insulin release by circulating nutrients, especially glucose, is thought to be mediated in the pancreatic B-cell by a sequence of metabolic, ionic, and motile events. On the basis of previous work, it is assumed that the process by which glucose is recognized as an insulinotropic agent entirely depends on the metabolic changes evoked by the sugar in the islet cells. Several factors are considered as possible candidates for the coupling between these metabolic changes and subsequent ionic events such as altered phosphate, chloride, sodium, potassium, and calcium handling. It is acknowledged that changes in the concentrations of glycolytic intermediates and cyclic nucleotides (adenosine- or guanosine-3', 5'-cyclic monophosphate), or both, could play a modulatory role upon stimulated insulin release. However, the initiation of insulin release seems to depend on the generation of two essential coupling factors: H+ and reduced pyridine nucleotides. The changes in H+ fluxes may account for the glucose-induced decrease in K+ and Ca2+ fractional outflow rate, all three parameters displaying hyperbolic-like dose-response curves with half-maximal values at noninsulinotropic glucose concentrations. The changes in NAD(P)H concentration may account for a glucose-induced Ca2+--Ca2+ exchange process due to a change in affinity of a native ionophoretic system. The dose-response curves for these parameters yield a sigmoidal pattern analogous to that which depicts the rate of insulin release at increasing glucose concentrations. It is proposed that such a coupling between metabolic and cationic events is operative in response to other insulinotropic nutrients and that its time course may be relevant to the phasic aspect of insulin release. Thus, the nutrient-induced release of insulin (and possibly other pancreatic hormones), which is essential for the regulation of fuel homeostasis, would depend on the capacity of circulating nutrients to act as a fuel in the islet cells. This concept raises a question as to the existence and nature of feedback mechanisms regulating the metabolic fluxes in the islet cells as a function of their energy expenditure.