Cyclic ADP-ribose and inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate as alternate second messengers for intracellular Ca2+ mobilization in normal and diabetic beta-cells
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Updated: Oct 30, 2026

Imaging Calcium Dynamics in Subpopulations of Mouse Pancreatic Islet Cells
Published on: November 26, 2019
S Takasawa1, T Akiyama, K Nata
1Department of Biochemistry, Tohoku University School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-77, Miyagi, Japan.
Abstract:
Intracellular Ca2+ mobilization occurs in a variety of cellular processes and is mediated by two major systems, the inositol 1,4, 5-trisphosphate (IP3) and cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR) systems. cADPR has been proposed to be a second messenger for insulin secretion induced by glucose in pancreatic beta-cells (Takasawa, S., Nata, K., Yonekura, H., and Okamoto, H. (1993) Science 259, 370-373). Here we show that the cADPR signal system for insulin secretion is replaced by the IP3 system in diabetic beta-cells such as ob/ob mouse islets and RINm5F cells. We measured the cADPR content in these beta-cells by radioimmunoassay and found that the increase of the cADPR content by glucose did not occur in ob/ob mouse islets and RINm5F cells, whereas the increased cADPR level by glucose was observed in normal rat and mouse islets. Microsomes of these diabetic beta-cells released Ca2+ in response to IP3 but not to cADPR. In the diabetic beta-cells, CD38 (ADP-ribosyl cyclase/cADPR hydrolase) and type 2 ryanodine receptor mRNAs were scarcely detected and, in contrast, an increased expression of IP3 receptor mRNAs was observed. The diabetic beta-cells secreted insulin rather by carbamylcholine than by glucose.
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