Abstract
IT has been shown that the β cells of pancreatic islets exhibit electrical activity when stimulated with insulin releasing agents1–3. There is evidence that this activity is directly correlated with the insulin release and that it has an important role in the secretory process2,4,5. More recently it was documented that β cells within an islet are connected by gap junctions6,7 which are considered as low resistance pathways (ref. 8 and refs therein). The question therefore arises whether the electrical activity can spread electrotonically from one cell to another within an islet. To further elucidate this question the electrical activity from two different cells was measured by simultaneous impalement with two microelectrodes.
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References
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MEISSNER, H. Electrophysiological evidence for coupling between β cells of pancreatic islets. Nature 262, 502–504 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1038/262502a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/262502a0
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