Diabetes, Vol 49, Issue 3 409-417, Copyright © 2000 by American Diabetes Association
The extracellular calcium-sensing receptor on human beta-cells negatively modulates insulin secretion
PE Squires, TE Harris, SJ Persaud, SB Curtis, AM Buchan and PM Jones
Endocrinology and Reproduction Research Group, School of Biomedical Sciences, King's College London, UK. paul.squires@kcl.ac.uk
The presence and functional significance of the extracellular
calcium-sensing receptor (CaR) on human pancreatic beta-cells were
investigated. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction with primers
for the extracellular domain of the CaR expressed in human
parathyroid-secreting cells identified a product of the expected size in
human pancreatic mRNA. Immunocytochemistry using an antibody against the
extracellular region of CaR showed extensive immunoreactivity in insulin-
and glucagon-containing cells but not in somatostatin-containing cells. In
perifusion experiments, elevations in extracellular Ca2+ produced initial
transient increases in insulin secretion, followed by a
concentration-dependent and prolonged, but reversible, inhibition of
secretion. Microfluorometric measurements of intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i)
in isolated human beta-cells demonstrated that elevations in extracellular
Ca2+ (0.5-10 mmol/l) caused rapid elevations in [Ca2+]i. Increases in
extracellular Ca2+ caused small increases in the cyclic AMP content of
whole human islets. These studies demonstrated that human beta-cells
express an extracellular CaR and that activation of the receptor inhibits
basal and nutrient-stimulated insulin secretion. The transduction mechanism
that mediates this inhibitory effect is unknown, but our results suggest
that it is unlikely to be through the adenylate cyclase-cyclic AMP pathway
or through the phospholipase C-IP3 pathway. This CaR-mediated inhibitory
mechanism may be an important autoregulatory mechanism in the control of
insulin secretion.