Endocrinology 10- Pancreas Flashcards
Two major pancreatic hormones
insulin (anabolic) and glucagon (catabolic)
Minor pancreatic hormones
somatostatin, amlin, and pancreatic polypeptide
job of pancreatic polypeptide
regulate satiety
exocrine pancreas
majority of cells, secrete digestive juices
Endocrine pancreas
consists of 4 major cell types clustered in islets of langerhans - highly vascularized fenestrated capillaries go through here and hormones are released into blood directly
beta cells release
insulin
alpha cells release
glucagon
delta cells release
somatostatin
How are clusters of cells in a human islet of langerhans different from a rodent
in a rodent it’s very much beta cells in the middle, surrounded by alpha cells - in umans it’s not quite as straightforward, with a lot of mosaicism which suggests paracrine communication andblood flow is a very important part of this
Arrangement of beta and alpha cells in human tissue
mosaic pattern, but overall beta cells clustered in “core” and other cells are in a “mantle” - alpha cells surround beta cells in sandwich formation, and there is paracrine effect between alpha and beta cells
When blood flow comes into pancreas what are the first cells it reaches
beta cells
Order of events when blood enters pancreas
glucose (in blood) comes in and stimulates beta cells, insulin is released, insulin inhibits cells around it (delta and aalpha cells)
Insulin synthesis -
made as preprohormone, disulfidebonds will connect strands,a nd a “C peptide” is cleaved. Everything is packaged into vesicles, and so when insulin is released you get insulin + c peptide.
C peptide half life vs insulin
C peptide half life is longer so it can be used diagnostically as a tool to see if someone’s pancreas is functioning properly - if somone is releasing c peptide you know they’re releasing insulin
Step 1 of insulin release
glucose outside beta cell - comes in via glUT2 (or GLUT1 depending on if rodents or humans) - have low affinity for glucose, so under basal conditions glucose will not be transported into beta cells, only we insulin is high after a meal will glucose be transported in
step 2 of insulin release
glucose is inside beta cell, glucokinase is goign to trap it into the cell (therefore is known as pancreatic glucose sensor – when enzyme is active, glucose is high)
after glucose has been trapped in pancreatic cell what happens in insulin synthesis and release
Glucose metabolism - G6P –> ATP –> this increased ATP closes K channels, this will lead to passive depolarization of the cell.
Sulfonylurea drug action
closes K channels – to increase MP of these cells to eventually lead to vesicle release.
After K channels close and mP starts to go up what is the next step in insulin release
Increased K causes membrane to depolarize and opens VG ca channels
After Ca channels have been opened what is the next step in insulin release
Vesicle exocytosis - - from Ca influx causes exocytosis of insulin containing vesicles
Insulin release in response to glucose is what, and what is the significance of this
Biphasic - this means you get a first big spike from all insulin contaiing vesicles getting yeeted. It slowly rises again because you need to actually synthesize new insulin. The first phase being lost is going to be one of the first things found in diabetic patients.
What kind of receptor does insulin use
RTK - binds receptor alpha subuni (beta autophosphorylates)
Two types of responses insulin can generate
Mitogenic and metabolic effects
Mitogenic insulin effects
promotes growth of a variety of tissues via RAS/RAF, MAP/ERK
Metabolic effects of insulin (birds eye view)
Akt/PI3K –> primarily going to be getting glucose out of blood and into tissues, and getting that fuel into storage for later useage.
Anabolic effects of insulin (4)
Use glucose – promote glucose uptake into tissues to make FFAs, glycogen, etc
Help with storage of FFAs as TGs
Help with process of making protein from AAs
Help make other macromolecules
Note
The organelle formation and cell proliferation are mitogenic, not metabolic effects