Insufficient insulin secretion represents an important facet of diabetes. Insulin is secreted from the ß-cells of the pancreatic islets when the blood glucose concentration rises above the normal ~5 mM. Precise knowledge about the cellular control and kinetics of insulin secretion is essential because type-2 diabetes involves the complete loss of rapid insulin secretion and a substantial reduction of sustained secretion. The loss of insulin secretion in diabetes is accompanied by defects in the release of the other islet hormones. For example, the regulation of glucagon release shows several abnormalities that exacerbate the metabolic consequences of insulin deficiency and type-2 diabetes is therefore best described as a multihormonal disorder.
The aim of our research is to explain how changes in the plasma glucose concentration via islet cell electrical activity and increases in the cytoplasmic Ca2+-concentration regulate exocytotic release of insulin as well as glucagon and somatostatin. Our work involves a combination of techniques to study secretion at the molecular, cellular and systemic levels. This requires sophisticated methodology to record the minute electrical currents flowing across biological membranes and secretion in individual cells at millisecond resolution. We also use optical techniques that allow us to monitor the movements of single secretory granules within the cell prior and during secretion.
These studies will promote our understanding of the fundamental processes that control insulin secretion under physiological conditions and determine the defects associated with clinical diabetes. Ultimately, our studies will allow the development of new diabetes therapies by identifying novel drug targets.