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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Glucose-Stimulated Insulin Secretion via Perfusion through the Mice Vasculature with an Intact Pancreas
Published on: July 25, 2025
Dexamethasone increases Na+/K+ ATPase activity in insulin secreting cells through SGK1
Susanne Ullrich1, Ying Zhang, Diana Avram
1Department of Physiology, University of Tübingen, Gmelinstr. 5, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany.
Abstract:
Glucocorticoids blunt insulin release, an effect partially due to activation of Kv channels. Similar to those channels Na+/K+ ATPase activity repolarizes the plasma membrane. The present study explored whether glucocorticoids increase the Na+/K+ ATPase activity in pancreatic beta-cells. The glucocorticoid dexamethasone (100 nmol/l for 1 day) significantly increased Na+/K+ ATPase alpha1/beta1-subunit transcript levels and ouabain-sensitive outward current reflecting Na+/K+ ATPase activity in INS-1 cells, effects blunted by glucocorticoid-receptor-blocker RU487 (1 micromol/l). Dexamethasone (100 nmol/l) increased K+ current in beta-cells from wild type mice but not from knockout mice lacking functional serum and glucocorticoid inducible kinase SGK1. Thus, glucocorticoids indeed up-regulate Na+/K+ ATPase activity, an effect requiring SGK1.
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