Exciting Times for Pancreatic Islets: Glutamate Signaling in Endocrine Cells

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• 作者：Silke Otter¹ ; ² ; Eckhard Lammert¹ ; ² ; ^{lammert@hhu.de" class="auth_mail" title="E-mail the corresponding author}
• 关键词：NMDA receptor ; diabetes mellitus ; insulin secretion ; glutamate ; pancreatic beta cell ; drug
• 刊名：Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：March 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：27
• 期：3
• 页码：177-188
• 全文大小：2010 K

文摘

Glutamate represents a key excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, and also modulates the function and viability of endocrine cells in pancreatic islets. In insulin-secreting beta cells, glutamate acts as an intracellular messenger, and its transport into secretory granules promotes glucose- and incretin-stimulated insulin secretion. Mitochondrial degradation of glutamate also contributes to insulin release when glutamate dehydrogenase is allosterically activated. It also signals extracellularly via glutamate receptors (AMPA and NMDA receptors) to modulate glucagon, insulin and somatostatin secretion, and islet cell survival. Its degradation products, GABA and γ-hydroxybutyrate, are released and also influence islet cell behavior. Thus, islet glutamate receptors, such as the NMDA receptors, might serve as possible drug targets to develop new medications for adjunct treatment of diabetes.