Influence of staurosporine on glucose-mediated and glucose-conditioned insulin secretion

The effect of staurosporine, a putative inhibitor of protein kinase C (PKC), on insulin secretion induced by glucose and 4-methyl-2-oxopentanoate (KIC) was examined. In addition, the effects of staurosporine on the actions of other agonists, for which glucose acts as a conditional modifier, were also examined. At 20 nM, staurosporine caused a marked inhibition of second-phase insulin secretion, whether it was stimulated by 10 mM- or 20 mM-glucose, by 15 mM-KIC, or by carbachol or tolbutamide in islets co-perifused with 7.0 mM-glucose. In each case, the second-phase secretory response was inhibited by 70-85%. In contrast, in all cases there was no effect of staurosporine on the magnitude of the first phase of insulin secretion, nor on the time course of first-phase secretion, except when glucose alone was the secretagogue. With either 10 mM- or 20 mM-glucose, the peak of the first phase of insulin secretion was delayed. Staurosporine does not alter glucose metabolism, or the ability of glucose to activate phosphoinositide hydrolysis or to cause the translocation of alpha-PKC to the membrane. These findings support the concept that PKC activation plays an important role in fuel-induced or fuel-conditioned insulin secretion.