Thermal stability of glucokinase (GK) as influenced by the substrate glucose, an allosteric glucokinase activator drug (GKA) and the osmolytes glycerol and urea.

We investigated how glycerol, urea, glucose and a GKA influence kinetics and stability of wild-type and mutant GK. Glycerol and glucose stabilized GK additively. Glycerol barely affected the TF spectra of all GKs but decreased k(cat), glucose S(0.5) and K(D) values and ATP K(M) while leaving cooperativity unchanged. Glycerol sensitized all GKs to GKA as shown by TF. Glucose increased TF of GKs without influence of glycerol on the effect. Glycerol and GKA affected kinetics and binding additively. The activation energies for thermal denaturation of GK were a function of glucose with K(D)s of 3 and 1mM without and with glycerol, respectively. High urea denatured wild type GK reversibly at 20 and 60°C and urea treatment of irreversibly heat denatured GK allowed refolding as demonstrated by TF including glucose response. We concluded: Glycerol stabilizes GK indirectly without changing the folding structure of the apoenzyme, by restructuring the surface water of the protein, whereas glucose stabilizes GK directly by binding to its substrate site and inducing a compact conformation. Glucose or glycerol (alone or combined) is unable to prevent irreversible heat denaturation above 40°C. However, urea denatures GK reversibly even at 60°C by binding to the protein backbone and directly interacting with hydrophobic side chains. It prevents irreversible aggregation allowing complete refolding when urea is removed. This study establishes the foundation for exploring numerous instability mutants among the more than 600 variant GKs causing diabetes in animals and humans.

Prostaglandins: enzymatic analysis.

By, means of al specific nicotinamide-adeninie dinucleotide-dependent prostaglanidin dehydrogenase from swine lung, an enizymatic method has been developed for the assay of prostaglandins. The method permits analysis with a lower limit of 10(-12) mole of prostaglandin.

Treatment with aldose reductase inhibitor or with myo-inositol arrests deterioration of the electroretinogram of diabetic rats.

Biochemical abnormalities in the retinal pigment epithelium of experimentally diabetic animals include increased sorbitol and decreased myo-inositol. Diabetes also causes a progressive reduction in the amplitude of the c-wave of the electroretinogram of the pigmented rat. The c-wave is generated by the retinal pigmented epithelium. Myo-inositol administration or treatment with sorbinil, an inhibitor of aldose reductase, arrested the decline in the c-wave. Therefore, hyperglycemia-associated defects in myo-inositol or sorbitol metabolism may be involved in the pathogenesis of the electrophysiological deficit of the diabetic retina. The homogeneous cell layer of the pigment epithelium may be a useful tissue model for studying the pathogenesis of the complications of diabetes.

Adaptations of alpha2- and beta-cells of rat and mouse pancreatic islets to starvation, to refeeding after starvation, and to obesity.

The effects of starvation and refeeding and of obesity on pancreatic alpha2- and beta-cell responses to glucose or tolbutamide were studied with the isolated rat or mouse pancreas perfused with an amino acid mixture in the presence and absence of glucose. It was observed that the physiological adaptation to a regimen of fasting and realimentation and to obesity differed greatly in the two types of endocrine cells. Whereas beta-cells of rats showed a dramatic reduction of glucose- and tolbutamide-stimulated insulin release during starvation that was reversed by refeeding, alpha2-cells preserved their response to stimulators and inhibitors during this experimental manipulation. Amino acid stimulation of glucagon release occurred equally well with the pancreas from fed and starved rats and was suppressed efficiently by glucose and tolbutamide in both nutritional states. Surprisingly, the rate of onset of glucose suppression of alpha2-cells was significantly higher in the fasted than in the fed state. This glucose hypersensitivity was apparent 2 d after after food deprivation and had disappeared again on the 2nd d of refeeding. In the pancreas from animals starved for 3 d, glucose and tolbutamide suppression of alpha2-cells took place in the absence of demonstrable changes of insulin release. In the isolated perfused pancreas taken from the hyperphagic obese hyperglycemic mouse (C57 Black/6J; ob/ob), the observed rate of insulin secretion as a result of a combined stimulus of amino acids and glucose and of glucagon release stimulated by amino acids was about four times higher than achieved by the pancreas of lean controls. However, glucose was unable to suppress the alpha2-cells in the pancreas of obese animals, in spite of the hypersection of the beta-cells, again in contrast to the alpha2-cells of controls that were readily inhibited by glucose. These data imply that the acute suppression of alpha2-cells by glucose is largely independent of a concomitant surge of extracellular insulin levels and that the adaptation of the islet organ to starvation leads to decreased glucose sensitivity of beta-cells, which contrasts with an improved glucose responsiveness of alpha2-cells. However, hyperphagia, which is assumed to be the primary abnormality in the ob/ob mouse, leads to overproduction of insulin and glucagon by the pancreas while greatly reducing the alpha2-cell sensitivity to glucose. An attempt is made to incorporate these data on starvation, refeeding, and obesity, as well as previous results with experimental diabetes, in a comprehensive picture describing a regulative principle underlying the glucose responsivness of alpha2-cells.

Glucose and ATP levels in pancreatic islet tissue of normal and diabetic rats.

It has been suggested that the hyperglucagonemia observed in diabetic animals and man may be due to an impairment of glucose uptake and metabolism by the alpha-cells resulting in a decreased production of ATP. To test this hypothesis glucose, ATP, glucagon, and insulin were measured in pancreatic islets of normal and alloxan or streptozotocin diabetic rats. Two experimental approaches were used. In the first, the pancreas was perfused in vitro for assessing insulin and glucagon release due to 10 mM amino acids with and without 5 mM glucose. These perfusions were performed in the presence and absence of insulin. After perfusion, the pancreas was frozen and processed for analysis of islet glucose, ATP, insulin, and glucagon content. The second approach was to investigate the islet sucrose, urea, and glucose spaces together with ATP, insulin, and glucagon content in vivo in normal and in insulin-treated and untreated streptozotocin diabetic rats. Perfusion of the pancreas in vitro with 5 mM glucose resulted in higher glucose content of normal islets than in alloxan and streptozotocin diabetic islets. Similarly in the in vivo studies, the intracellular glucose space of the streptozotocin diabetic islets was 30% the value found in normals. In the in vivo experiments, despite the relatively small intracellular glucose space of alpha-cell islets, the ATP content of these islets was only 15-20% lower than the ATP content of normal islets. In the in vitro experiments, perfusion with glucose resulted in ATP contents of alpha-cell islets and of normal mixed alpha-beta-cell islets which were indistinguishable. However, the ATP content of alpha-cell islets was maintained for prolonged periods in the absence of glucose in contrast to mixed islets, composed primarily of beta-cells, in which the ATP level decreased by 45% when glucose-free medium was perfused for sustained periods. Finally, insulin infused in high concentrations or administered to the diabetic animal had no effect on the glucose spaces or the ATP contents of normal or alpha-cell islets. It can be calculated that in vivo the intracellular glucose level of islets from streptozotocin treated rats is approximately 15 mM. Since in normals an extracellular glucose concentration of this magnitude inhibits stimulated glucagon release completely, it would seem unlikely that a lack of intracellular glucose is the cause of the apparent glucose "blindness" of the alpha-cells in diabetes. In fact, in perfusion studies as little as 2.5 mM free intracellular glucose was sufficient to suppress glucagon secretion from diabetic alpha-cells. The results of the ATP measurements clearly eliminate a possible energy deficit of diabetic alpha-cells as cause of the apparent glucose resistance of alpha-cells.

Insulin and glucose as modulators of the amino acid-induced glucagon release in the isolated pancreas of alloxan and streptozotocin diabetic rats.

The hyperglucagonemia that occurs in vivo in animals made diabetic with alloxan or streptozotocin is not suppressed by high glucose but is suppressed by exogenous insulin. These observations together with other studies suggested that insulin-dependent glucose transport and metabolism by the alpha-cells serves as the primary mechanism controlling glucagon secretion. This hypothesis was tested in the present investigation. The possible interactions between glucose, insulin, and a mixture of 20 amino acids at physiological proportions were examined in the isolated-perfusin diabetic rats. Release of insulin and glucagon were used as indicators of theta-cell and alpha-cell function. According to rigid criteria the diabetic animals entering the study were severely diabetic. It was found that in vitro: (a) basal glucagon release (measured in the absence of an alpha-cell stimulus or inhibitor) was extremely low, even lower (i.e. 10%) than the basal rates seen in controls; (b) the alpha-cells of alloxanized- and streptozotocin-treated rats responded with a biphasic glucagon release to stimulation by an amino acid mixture; (c) this alpha-cell response was reduced after both streptozotocin and alloxan; (d) glucose at 5 mM was a potent inhibitor of amino acid-induced glucagon secretion in both types of experimental diabetes; (e) in alloxan diabetes alpha-cell stimulation by amino acids can be curbed by exogenous insulin, whereas glucagon secretion by the perfused pancreas of streptoxotocin diabetic rats appeared to be resistant to insulin action. The data indicate that the modulation of glucagon secretion by glucose in vitro is indipendent of insulin and that other unknown factors extrinsic to the pancreatic islets are responsible for the hyperglucagonemia observed in vivo.

Glucose modulation of amino acid-induced glucagon and insulin release in the isolated perfused rat pancreas.

Interactions between glucose and arginine and a mixture of 20 amino acids found in normal rat serum were studied in the isolated perfused rat pancreas of normal rats, with release of immunoreactive glucagon and insulin as parameters. Secretion of both pancreatic hormones was low during the steady state, whether glucose (5 mM) was included in the perfusion medium or not. This glucose concentration significantly stimulated insulin release twofold and resulted in an 80% inhibition of basal glucagon release. Arginine and the amino acid mixture were potent stimulants of both hormones. Secretion of both hormones followed identical biphasic response patterns after addition of arginine or the amino acid mixture. However, stimulation of insulin release occurred only when glucose was included, whereas both phases of glucagon release were elicited in the absence of glucose and markedly reduced in its presence. The dose-dependency curves of hormone release due to arginine on one hand and the amino acid mixture on the other differed substantially: with arginine, release of insulin and glucagon was linear between a concentration of 0.3 and 20 mM. In contrast, the amino acid mixture resulted in half-maximal release for both hormones between a concentration of 3 and 4.5 mM, and maximal release between 6 and 8 mM. The dose-dependencies of glucose modulation of alpha- and beta-cell activity were also different: when the amino acid mixture was maintained at 15 mM and glucose varied (0-6.25 nM), no insulin release occurred until glucose was above 2.5 mM, whereas incremental inhibition of glucagon occurred through the complete dose range. It was also observed that glucose inhibition of amino acid-stimulated glucagon release was dissociated from glucose-dependent increase of insulin release. THESE STUDIES INDICATE THAT: (a) the alpha-cell, like the beta-cell, secretes at a low basal rate; (b) hypoglycemia per se is a weak stimulus for glucagon secretion compared to the high efficacy of a physiologic amino acid mixture; (c) glucose plays opposite roles in the mechanisms leading to amino acid-induced hormone release from the alpha- and beta-cells, functioning as an inhibitor in the first case and a permissive agent in the second, and (d) the data are compatible with the postulated existence of glucose and amino acid receptors in both the alpha- and beta-cells.

In situ glucose uptake and glucokinase activity of pancreatic islets in diabetic and obese rodents.

The present study evaluated the involvement of glucose transport and phosphorylation in glucose-stimulated insulin release from pancreatic islets. Using quantitative histochemical techniques, we investigated basal islet glucose content, islet glucose uptake in situ during acute extreme experimental hyperglycemia, and islet glucokinase activity in several animal models of diabetes and obesity. The basal islet glucose content in anaesthetized diabetic or obese rodents was either the same or higher than that in their relevant controls. The rate of glucose uptake of islet tissue in these animals after an i.v. glucose injection was different. The db+/db+ mouse and the obese Zucker rat exhibited significantly reduced islet glucose uptake rates. RIP-cHras transgenic mice, BHE/cdb rats and partially pancreatectomized rats showed normal islet glucose uptake rates. The activity of islet glucokinase was increased to a different degree related to the blood glucose level. All five animal models of diabetes or obesity exhibited either a delay or a reduction of insulin release in response to supra maximal glucose stimulation. Our results indicate that the impairment of glucose-induced insulin release in diabetes is not consistently associated with a reduction of islet glucose uptake nor a change of glucokinase activity.

Alterations in pancreatic islet phosphate content during secretory stimulation with glucose.

Isolated rat pancreatic islets were perifused and analyzed for phosphate content immediately following the transient increase in the efflux of orthophosphate which occurs when insulin secretion is stimulated by glucose. In some instances, islets were perifused directly following isolation to minimize preparative delay; in others, islets were prelabeled during incubation with [32P]orthophosphate for 90 min prior to perifusion. In both experimental situations, total islet phosphate content declined 40--50% following exposure to stimulating concentrations of glucose and initiation of enhanced insulin release. In the experiments with prelabeled islets, tissue content of [32P]orthophosphate fell to a similar extent so that the specific radioactivity of islet orthophosphate was unaffected. Inhibited of heightened insulin release with Ni2+ did not modify the decrements in total or radioactive tissue orthophosphate, thus indicating that these responses to islet stimulation reflect events which are proximal to activated exocytosis. Simultaneous analyses for tissue ATP and ADP demonstrated that the efflux in orthophosphate and reduction in tissue orthophosphate content were not mediated via net changes in islet adenine nucleotides. The observations represent the first documentation that a net reduction of tissue inorganic phosphate is one of the early components of stimulus-secretion coupling in isolated pancreatic islets.

Electrophysiological evidence for the autoregulation of beta-cell secretion by insulin.

Electrophysiological studies of cultured rat pancreatic beta-cells using intracellular microelectrodes show that exogenous insulin over the range of 0.1 -- 10.0 microng/ml inhibits the electrical activity due to 27.8 mM glucose in a dose-related manner. This inhibitory effect is manifested by a mean increase of the membrane potential from about --20 to --30 mV and inhibition of the number of cells impaled showing spike activity from 60 to less than 10%. The inhibitory influence of insulin is rapid occurring within 5 min for the highest level used. The results provide evidence for a negative feedback role of insulin in regulating its own release.

Selective activation of Ca2+ influx by extracellular ATP in a pancreatic beta-cell line (HIT).

The action of exogenous ATP on cytoplasmic free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) was studied in insulin secreting cells using fura-2. Stimulation of clonal pancreatic beta-cells (HIT) with ATP (range 2-20 microM) evoked a sustained elevation in [Ca2+]i. ATP selectively promoted Ca2+ influx and not Ca2+ mobilization since (1) the effect required external Ca1+ and (2) was observed in cells in which internal stores were depleted with ionomycin (3) the rate of Mn2+ influx, measured as the quenching of the fura-2 signal, was accelerated by ATP. The action of ATP was unaffected by the voltage-sensitive Ca2+ channel blockers nifedipine and verapamil as well as by a depolarizing concentration of K+. The effect on [Ca2+]i was highly specific for ATP since AMP, ADP, adenosine 5'-[gamma-thio]triphosphate, adenosine 5'-[beta, gamma-methylene]triphosphate, GTP and adenosine were ineffective. In normal pancreatic islet cells, both exogenous ATP (range 0.2-2 microM) and ADP induced a transient Ca2+ elevation that did not require external Ca2+. The nucleotide specificity of the effect on [Ca2+]i suggests that ATP activates P2 gamma purinergic receptors in normal beta-cells. Thus, ATP evokes a Ca2+ signal in clonal HIT cells and normal islet cells by different transducing systems involving distinct purinoreceptors. A novel mechanism for increasing [Ca2+]i by extracellular ATP is reported in HIT cells, since the nucleotide specificity and the selective activation of Ca2+ influx without mobilization of internal Ca2+ stores cannot be explained by mechanisms already described in other cell systems.

Banting Lecture 1995. A lesson in metabolic regulation inspired by the glucokinase glucose sensor paradigm.

Special features of glucose metabolism in pancreatic beta-cells are central to an understanding of the physiological role of these cells in glucose homeostasis. Several of these characteristics are emphasized: a high-capacity system for glucose transport; glucose phosphorylation by the high-Km glucokinase (GK), which is rate-limiting for glucose metabolism and determines physiologically the glucose dependency curves of many processes in beta-cell intermediary and energy metabolism and of insulin release and is therefore viewed as glucose sensor; remarkably low activity of lactate dehydrogenase and the presence of effective hydrogen shuttles to allow virtually quantitative oxidation of glycolytic NADH; the near absence of glycogen and fatty acid synthesis and of gluconeogenesis, such that intermediary metabolism is primarily catabolic; a crucial role of mitochondrial processes, including the citric acid cycle, electron transport, and oxidative phosphorylation with FoF1 ATPase governing the glucose-dependent increase of the ATP mass-action ratio; a Ca(2+)-independent glucose-induced respiratory burst and increased ATP production in beta-cells as striking manifestations of crucial mitochondrial reactions; control of the membrane potential by the mass-action ratio of ATP and voltage-dependent Ca2+ influx as signal for insulin release; accumulation of malonyl-CoA, acyl-CoA, and diacylglycerol as essential or auxiliary metabolic coupling factors; and amplification of the adenine nucleotide, lipid-related, and Ca2+ signals to recruit many auxiliary processes to maximize insulin biosynthesis and release. The biochemical design also suggests certain candidate diabetes genes related to fuel metabolism: low-activity and low-stability GK mutants that explain in part the maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) phenotype in humans and mitochondrial DNA mutations of FoF1 ATPase components thought to cause late-onset diabetes in BHEcdb rats. These two examples are chosen to illustrate that metabolic reactions with high control strength participating in beta-cell energy metabolism and generating coupling factors and intracellular signals are steps with great susceptibility to genetic, environmental, and pharmacological influences. Glucose metabolism of beta-cells also controls, in addition to insulin secretion and insulin biosynthesis, an adaptive response to excessive fuel loads and may increase the beta-cell mass by hypertrophy, hyperplasia, and neogenesis. It is probable that this adaptive response is compromised in diabetes because of the GK or ATPase mutants that are highlighted here. A comprehensive knowledge of beta-cell intermediary and energy metabolism is therefore the foundation for understanding the role of these cells in fuel homeostasis and in the pathogenesis of the most prevalent metabolic disease, diabetes.

Glucokinase as glucose sensor and metabolic signal generator in pancreatic beta-cells and hepatocytes.

This article reviews evidence for a pivotal role of glucokinase as glucose sensor of the pancreatic beta-cells. Glucokinase explains the capacity, hexose specificity, affinities, sigmoidicity, and anomeric preference of pancreatic islet glycolysis, and because stimulation of glucose metabolism is a prerequisite of glucose stimulation of insulin release, glucokinase also explains many characteristics of this beta-cell function. Glucokinase of the beta-cell is induced or activated by glucose in contrast to liver glucokinase, which is regulated by insulin. Tissue-specific regulation corresponds with observations that liver and pancreatic beta-cell glucokinase are structurally distinct. Glucokinase could play a glucose-sensor role in hepatocytes as well, and certain forms of diabetes mellitus might be due to glucokinase deficiencies in pancreatic beta-cells, hepatocytes, or both.

Content of CoA-esters in perifused rat islets stimulated by glucose and other fuels.

Fluorometry and high-performance liquid chromatography were used to measure the content of free CoA and the esters of acetate, malonate, succinate, and long-chain fatty acids in isolated perifused rat pancreatic islets exposed to 25 mM glucose or a mixture of fuels (25 mM glucose plus 10 mM glutamine, 10 mM lactate, and 1 mM pyruvate) to assess the role of intermediates of lipid metabolism as candidate metabolic coupling factors in the mechanism of fuel-induced insulin secretion. Insulin secretion was stimulated in a biphasic manner with the fuel mixture, showing twice the potency compared with high glucose alone. Islets perifused for 3 min with high glucose alone or the fuel mixture compared with 2.5 mM glucose showed a significant increase in malonyl-CoA and succinyl-CoA and a decrease in acetyl-CoA. Free CoA and long-chain acyl-CoA levels were unaltered. Perifused islets stimulated with 25 mM glucose for 30 min showed a significant increase in succinyl-CoA and long-chain acyl-CoA and decrease in acetyl-CoA, whereas malonyl-CoA was not affected. However, when islets were stimulated by the fuel mixture for 30 min, malonyl-CoA was maintained at a high level, and the change in succinyl-CoA and long-chain acyl-CoA was similar to that observed in islets stimulated with 25 mM glucose alone. The acetyl-CoA concentration in the islets stimulated with the fuel mixture decreased slightly. These results confirm the viability of the hypothesis that malonyl-CoA and long-chain acyl-CoA serve as metabolic coupling factors in signal transduction when islets are stimulated by high glucose or glucose combined with other fuels.

Diabetes affects sorbitol and myo-inositol levels of neuroectodermal tissue during embryogenesis in rat.

ATP, ADP, phosphocreatine (PCr), creatine (Cr), glucose, malate, sorbitol, and myo-inositol (MI) were measured by quantitative histochemical techniques in pure neuroectodermal tissue of rat embryos of gestation days 11 and 12 that were dissected from normal and streptozocin-induced diabetic mothers. Neither gestational age nor maternal diabetes affected the tissue's energy potential (ATP-to-ADP and PCr-to-Cr ratios). Diabetes resulted in a fourfold rise in the embryonic glucose and a 25% increase in neuroectodermal malate content. Maternal hyperglycemia caused a rise in fetal sorbitol at days 11 and 12 of gestation. The MI content of the neuroectoderm was not affected by the maternal diabetic state in perfusion embryos (day 11); however, the near doubling of MI that occurs from day 11 to day 12 during normal development was prevented. Thus, embryos isolated from diabetic mothers on gestation day 12 had 30% less MI than embryos isolated from normal mothers. From these data we conclude that a rise in tissue sorbitol is not always accompanied by a fall in tissue MI. These results and recent information in the literature implicate involvement of decreased MI concentrations in the process leading to malformation of the nervous system in diabetic embryopathy.

Control of glucose phosphorylation and glucose usage in clonal insulinoma cells.

Glucose metabolism was investigated in two established clonal insulinoma cell lines (RINm5F and HIT) and in a newly developed line of mouse insulinoma cells (IgSV195). The hexokinase capacity in the homogenates of RINm5F cells was 22.1 +/- 3.23 U/g protein, but glucokinase was barely detectable (0.06 +/- 0.013 U/g protein). In contrast, both HIT and IgSV195 cells contained glucokinase (1.5 +/- 0.17 and 1.0 +/- 0.16 U/g protein, respectively) in addition to hexokinase activity. Glucose usage by the intact cells qualitatively reflected the glucose phosphorylation found in the cell-free extracts. RINm5F cells exhibited a high glucose usage rate with one high-affinity component, whereas both HIT and IgSV195 cells showed two components with different glucose affinities. HIT and IgSV195 cells may be useful for a model of pancreatic beta-cell glycolysis.

Fuel-induced insulin release in vitro from insulinomas transplanted into the rat kidney.

We studied the release of insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin in response to glucose, glyceraldehyde (GA), and alpha-ketoisocaproate (KIC) from rat kidneys containing transplanted insulinomas. Kidneys were perfused about 11 wk after transplantation when the plasma glucose concentration of the fed animals had decreased from 180 +/- 7 to 95.1 +/- 9.9 mg/dl and plasma insulin concentrations had increased from 2.6 +/- 0.5 to 14.2 +/- 2.0 ng/ml. The insulin content of the tumor-containing kidney ranged from 40 to 679 micrograms; the glucagon and somatostatin concentrations ranged from undetectable levels to 3.7 micrograms and 248 ng, respectively. The average response to 30 mM glucose and 10 mM GA was a four- to fivefold increase in insulin secretion, whereas 30 mM KIC caused a 16- to 28-fold increase. In vitro stimulation of the insulinoma with 30 mM glucose primed the beta-cell response to a second stimulus following a short rest period. Cytochalasin B did not enhance this primed glucose response. Diazoxide inhibited glucose, GA, and KIC-stimulated insulin release. Glucose, GA, and KIC stimulated glucagon release in 2 of 17 insulinomas studied here. Somatostatin release was not seen in any of the experiments. These findings show that this islet cell tumor transplanted under the kidney capsule releases insulin in response to physiologic and model fuel substances. Thus, this particular transplantable tumor offers an opportunity to study the biochemistry and biophysics that underlie fuel-stimulated insulin release.

Mannose phosphorylation by glucokinase from liver and transplantable insulinoma. Cooperativity and discrimination of anomers.

Glucokinase from rat liver or transplantable, radiation-induced insulinomas was partially purified by ion exchange chromatography using DEAE-Cibacron Blue F3GA agarose. Phosphorylation of alpha,beta-D-mannose by glucokinase occurred with cooperative rate dependence on mannose concentration (nH: 1.50). Half-maximal phosphorylation rate occurred at 14 mM alpha,beta-D-mannose. The alpha- and beta-anomers of mannose were phosphorylated with sigmoidal kinetics (nH: 1.57 and 1.42, respectively). The affinity of glucokinase for alpha-D-mannose is higher than for beta-D-mannose (S0.5: 12 mM versus 19 mM). The maximum phosphorylation rate is slightly higher, about 10%, with beta-D-mannose than with alpha-D-mannose. Islet glucokinase has previously been shown to be chromatographically and kinetically identical to glucokinase from insulinoma and liver; therefore, evidence that glucokinase from these two tissues phosphorylates mannose with cooperative rate dependence and differentiates mannose anomers supports the glucokinase-glucose sensor hypothesis.

Pancreatic beta-cell glucokinase: closing the gap between theoretical concepts and experimental realities.

There remains a wide gap between theoretical concepts and experimental realities in the enzyme kinetics and biochemical genetics of the pancreatic beta-cell glucokinase-glucose sensor. It is the goal of present efforts in many laboratories to bridge this gap. This perspective intends to provide a timely review of this crucial aspect of research in glucose homeostasis. It deals briefly with some fundamentals of glucokinase enzyme kinetics, offers some pertinent biochemical genetic considerations, takes stock of the current experimental database of the field by emphasizing human studies and referring to recent mouse studies, and ventures a few extrapolations into the future of this endeavor.

Effect of linogliride on hormone release from perfused rat pancreas. Fuel dependence and desensitization by tolbutamide.

We examined the effect of the hypoglycemic drug linogliride on hormone release from the in vitro perfused rat pancreas. Linogliride stimulated insulin release in the absence of glucose either in the presence or absence of a physiological mixture of amino acids. In addition, linogliride inhibited amino acid-induced glucagon release. Half-maximal effects of linogliride on insulin and glucagon release were achieved at concentrations as low as 26 and 3 microM, respectively. The effects of linogliride on hormone release largely resembled those of tolbutamide. In the absence of amino acids, the stimulation of insulin release by linogliride or tolbutamide was transient. When the pancreas had been preperfused for 20 min with tolbutamide, linogliride no longer had an effect on hormone release. Likewise, tolbutamide remained without effect in pancreases preperfused with linogliride. These data suggest that linogliride and tolbutamide may have a similar mechanism of action.