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Updated: May 26, 2026

Imaging Calcium Dynamics in Subpopulations of Mouse Pancreatic Islet Cells
Published on: November 26, 2019
Disruption and stabilization of β-cell actin microfilaments differently influence insulin secretion triggered by
Jean-Claude Henquin1, Nizar I Mourad, Myriam Nenquin
1Unit of Endocrinology and Metabolism, University of Louvain Faculty of Medicine, Brussels, Belgium. jean-claude.henquin@uclouvain.be
Abstract:
Latrunculin depolymerizes and jasplakinolide polymerizes β-cell actin microfilaments. Both increase insulin secretion when Ca(2+) enters β-cells during depolarization by glucose, sulfonylureas or potassium. Mouse islets were held hyperpolarized with diazoxide, and stimulated with acetylcholine to test the role of microfilaments in insulin secretion triggered by intracellular Ca(2+) mobilization and store-operated Ca(2+) entry (SOCE). Jasplakinolide slightly attenuated Ca(2+) mobilization and did not affect SOCE, but consistently inhibited the attending insulin secretion. Latrunculin did not affect Ca(2+) changes induced by acetylcholine, but consistently increased insulin secretion, its effect being larger in response to Ca(2+) entry than to Ca(2+) mobilization. Microfilaments have thus a distinct impact on exocytosis of insulin granules depending on the source of triggering Ca(2+).
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