Efflux of radioactive nucleotides from mouse pancreatic islets prelabelled with 2-3H-adenosine

Cultured mouse pancreatic islets were prelabelled with 2-3H-adenosine in order to monitor the efflux pattern of radioactivity and insulin. The outflow of radioactivity decreased continuously when the islets were perifused with glucose (1.67 mmol/l). When raising the glucose concentration to 16.7 mmol/l, there was a prompt inhibition of the radioactive efflux concomitant with an increased rate of insulin release. These effects were reversed when the high glucose challenge was withdrawn. Similar radioactive efflux patterns were obtained after addition of alpha-ketoisocaproic acid, leucine or pyruvate to the perifusion medium, and also when the islets were challenged with high glucose concentrations in the absence of calcium. Both antimycin A and glipizide stimulated the efflux of radioactivity, although only the addition of glipizide was accompanied by a stimulation of the insulin release. Nucleotides constituted approximately 90% of the total effluent radioactivity. Decrease in the radioactive AMP and ADP efflux due to high glucose was furthermore found to be the cause of the observed inhibition of the total radioactive efflux. The changes in radioactive efflux induced by glucose probably reflect changes in the intracellular concentrations of AMP and ADP. It is concluded that no simple correlation exists between radioactive efflux and insulin release and that changes in the intracellular concentrations of nucleotides may be an early event in the stimulus-secretion coupling of glucose-induced insulin release.