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Related Concept Videos

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 11, 2025

Computational Reconstruction of Pancreatic Islets as a Tool for Structural and Functional Analysis
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Critical transitions in pancreatic islets.

D Korošak1,2, S Postić3, A Stožer1

  • 1University of Maribor, Institute for Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Maribor, Slovenia.

Physical Review. E
|April 18, 2025
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Summary

Pancreatic beta cells transition sharply to coordinated calcium signaling at a glucose tipping point. This critical, first-order transition, with hysteresis, suggests islets act as tipping elements for abrupt insulin release.

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Area of Science:

  • Endocrinology
  • Systems Biology
  • Biophysics

Background:

  • Pancreatic beta cells regulate glucose homeostasis through collective calcium signaling.
  • The transition to coordinated signaling under rising glucose concentrations resembles a phase transition, but its order is unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the order and nature of the phase transition in pancreatic beta cell collective calcium signaling.
  • To understand the role of islets as critical tipping elements in glucose-induced insulin release.

Main Methods:

  • Confocal microscopy was used to record collective calcium activity in intact pancreatic islets.
  • Glucose concentration was systematically varied (increasing then decreasing) to observe signaling dynamics.
  • A computational network model incorporating link selection and coordination was developed.

Main Results:

  • A sharp transition from uncorrelated to correlated calcium signaling was observed as glucose increased.
  • Hysteresis in the coordinated calcium response was identified, indicating a first-order phase transition.
  • The network model successfully replicated the observed hysteresis and critical transition dynamics.

Conclusions:

  • The collective calcium response of pancreatic beta cells exhibits a critical, first-order phase transition with hysteresis.
  • Islets function as interconnected tipping elements, driving abrupt insulin release through critical dynamics.