Pancreatic beta cells, the insulin-releasing cells of the isletsof Langerhans, are electrically excitable cells. They sensefluctuations in the plasma glucose concentration and convertthe signal into a change in electrical activity that modulatesinsulin secretion. Mutations affecting the molecular machineryunderlying this conversion are prime suspects in the causationof diabetes mellitus, in which an increase in the plasma glucoselevel is not adequately matched by increased insulin secretion.At the heart of the mechanism that changes the metabolic signalinto an electrical one lies the ATP-sensitive potassium channel(KATP channel); polymorphisms in this channel have recentlybeen . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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From the Department of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
This article has been cited by other articles:
Lin, C.-W., Lin, Y.-W., Yan, F.-F., Casey, J., Kochhar, M., Pratt, E. B., Shyng, S.-L.
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[Abstract][Full Text]
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