Original Research
25 October 2022
DOI 10.3389/fendo.2022.1013697
TYPE
PUBLISHED
OPEN ACCESS
EDITED BY
Manami Hara,
The University of Chicago,
United States
REVIEWED BY
Wolfgang F. Graier,
Medical University of Graz, Austria
Andrei I. Tarasov,
Ulster University, United Kingdom
*CORRESPONDENCE
Marjan Slak Rupnik
marjan.slakrupnik@meduniwien.ac.at
SPECIALTY SECTION
This article was submitted to
Diabetes: Molecular Mechanisms,
a section of the journal
Frontiers in Endocrinology
07 August 2022
07 October 2022
PUBLISHED 25 October 2022
RECEIVED
Physiological levels of
adrenaline fail to stop
pancreatic beta cell activity
at unphysiologically high
glucose levels
Nastja Sluga 1, Lidija Križančić Bombek 1, Jasmina Kerčmar 1,
Srdjan Sarikas 2, Sandra Postić 2, Johannes Pfabe 2,
Maša Skelin Klemen 1, Dean Korošak 1, Andraž Stožer 1
and Marjan Slak Rupnik 1,2,3*
1
Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Physiology, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia, 2 Center for
Physiology and Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria, 3 Alma Mater Europaea,
European Center Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
ACCEPTED
CITATION
Sluga N, Križančić Bombek L,
Kerčmar J, Sarikas S, Postić S, Pfabe J,
Skelin Klemen M, Korošak D, Stožer A
and Slak Rupnik M (2022) Physiological
levels of adrenaline fail to stop
pancreatic beta cell activity at
unphysiologically high glucose levels.
Front. Endocrinol. 13:1013697.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.1013697
COPYRIGHT
© 2022 Sluga, Križančić Bombek,
Kerčmar, Sarikas, Postić, Pfabe,
Skelin Klemen, Korošak, Stožer and
Slak Rupnik. This is an open-access
article distributed under the terms of
the Creative Commons Attribution
License (CC BY). The use, distribution
or reproduction in other forums is
permitted, provided the original author
(s) and the copyright owner(s) are
credited and that the original
publication in this journal is cited, in
accordance with accepted academic
practice. No use, distribution or
reproduction is permitted which does
not comply with these terms.
Adrenaline inhibits insulin secretion from pancreatic beta cells to allow an
organism to cover immediate energy needs by unlocking internal nutrient
reserves. The stimulation of a2-adrenergic receptors on the plasma membrane
of beta cells reduces their excitability and insulin secretion mostly through
diminished cAMP production and downstream desensitization of late step(s) of
exocytotic machinery to cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]c). In most studies
unphysiologically high adrenaline concentrations have been used to evaluate
the role of adrenergic stimulation in pancreatic endocrine cells. Here we report
the effect of physiological adrenaline levels on [Ca2+]c dynamics in beta cell
collectives in mice pancreatic tissue slice preparation. We used confocal
microscopy with a high spatial and temporal resolution to evaluate glucosestimulated [Ca2+]c events and their sensitivity to adrenaline. We investigated
glucose concentrations from 8-20 mM to assess the concentration of
adrenaline that completely abolishes [Ca2+]c events. We show that 8 mM
glucose stimulation of beta cell collectives is readily inhibited by the
concentration of adrenaline available under physiological conditions, and
that sequent stimulation with 12 mM glucose or forskolin in high nM range
overrides this inhibition. Accordingly, 12 mM glucose stimulation required at
least an order of magnitude higher adrenaline concentration above the
physiological level to inhibit the activity. To conclude, higher glucose
concentrations stimulate beta cell activity in a non-linear manner and
beyond levels that could be inhibited with physiologically available plasma
adrenaline concentration.
KEYWORDS
adrenaline, islets, beta cells, cAMP, concentration dependency, [Ca2+]c oscilla
tions, forskolin
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Introduction
mechanism, leading to inhibition of adenylyl cyclase (AC)
activity. Actions mediated through b-adrenergic receptors are
Gs mediated, and therefore the binding of agonists to badrenergic receptors stimulates AC activity (5).
The published experimental evidence associates the
inhibition of insulin secretion with activation of a2A- or a2C
adrenoceptors (4, 13, 21). Yohimbine, an a2A-adrenoceptor
antagonist selectively prevents inhibition by adrenaline (13,
22). Along the same lines, a2A-adrenoceptor inhibitory effect
on insulin secretion has been further confirmed by using a2Aadrenoceptor knockout (a 2 -KO) mice (20). Recently, a
correlation between the reduced ability of beta cells to secrete
insulin and polymorphism in the human a2A-adrenoceptor
gene (ADRA2A) has been established (23). On the other hand,
an increased a2A-adrenergic receptor expression has been
associated with reduced insulin secretion and increased risk
for developing type 2 diabetes (23).
The direct agonist binding to a2-adrenergic receptors on
pancreatic beta cells (4, 13), has been originally described to
influence several different cellular processes, like opening
probability of ion channels, membrane potential, [Ca 2+ ]
homeostasis, and late steps of the regulated exocytosis of
insulin (2, 13, 24). The common pathway following activation
of a2-adrenergic receptors in beta cells is inhibition of AC and
reduced production of cAMP. The concentration of cAMP in
beta cells would typically be elevated after the GLP-1 binding to
its receptor and activation of Gs mediated processes. cAMP in
beta cells has been found to work through either protein kinase
A (PKA)- or guanine nucleotide exchange factor 2 (Epac2A)dependent pathways (25).
The open question is to what extent can glucose directly
influence the production of cytosolic cAMP concentration in
beta cells? More than half a century ago, it has been first
suggested that glucose-induced insulin release is independent
of cAMP production (26, 27). Soon after, evidence started to
emerge suggesting that cAMP plays a prominent role in
modulating glucose-induced release of insulin (28). It has been
proposed that glucose, in addition to its function as a metabolic
fuel, serves as a ligand for plasma membrane receptor (29, 30).
Since then, experimental evidence preferentially supported the
glucose fuel and cAMP modulatory concept (31, 32). Forskolin
at increasing concentrations induced cAMP raise in the
concentration range spanning at least two orders of magnitude
to promote electrical activity, and raise [Ca2+]c, from both
intracellular and extracellular sources (33). GLP1R signaling in
b-cells has been reported to contribute to basal and glucoseinduced cAMP production and insulin secretion (34). In
addition, clinical work has shown that a2A-adrenoceptor
a ntagonists, in clinica l use a s antipsychotics and
antidepressants, potentiate the insulinotropic effect of drugs
used in diabetes therapy, leading to severe adverse effects (4),
supporting the modulatory role of cAMP on Ca2+-dependent
insulin release in beta cells. Furthermore, glucose has been
Pancreatic endocrine cells have a prominent role in
maintaining plasma nutrient levels. In physiological
hyperglycemia, beta cells secrete insulin to move excess
glucose into target cells and to eventually terminate their own
activation. During the episodes of acutely increased glucose
consumption during stress, beta cells must be switched off. In
contrast, alpha cells respond with an increased glucagon
secretion to support the activity of several other hormonal
systems in an organism to recover and maintain the adequate
plasma glucose level. The release of hormones from both beta
and alpha cells is regulated by the autonomic nervous system
(1–3).
The release of adrenaline from chromaffin cells of the
adrenal medulla results in elevated blood glucose level, that
follows glucagon secretion and stimulation of gluconeogenesis
and glycogenolysis (4, 5), and inhibition of insulin release from
beta cells (2, 6). Many factors, besides cellular reuptake, short
half-time due to kidney clearance, enzymatic degradation,
environmental stress, and food intake (7) affect the plasma
concentration of catecholamines, making a reliable plasma
catecholamine level hard to assess accurately (8). Moreover,
catecholamines are light sensitive and can be oxidated to
adrenochrome with different pharmacological properties. The
physiological resting plasma adrenaline and NA concentrations
are therefore low, in 10-10 M range (5). During exercise in
humans, these levels can increase to some nM range (9).
Different euthanasia methods contribute to the variability in
the measurement of plasma catecholamines levels. The latest
analytical methods and techniques for collecting animal blood
without animal handling, and further measures to reduce
environmental stress, suggest that previously measured plasma
catecholamines levels have typically overestimated the plasma
adrenaline concentration (10, 11). In C56BL/6J mice, resting
plasma adrenaline levels and levels after euthanasia with CO2,
followed by decapitation have been estimated to be in the range
of 0.5-10 nM (12). As a result, so far only a handful of studies
have addressed adrenergic effects on pancreatic beta cell
matching these physiological conditions (13–15). Without a
doubt, a commonly used higher adrenaline concentrations
have been successfully used to discriminate between beta and
alpha cells in different pancreas preparations (16, 17).
The effect that adrenaline has on a target tissue depends on
distribution of adrenergic receptor types. In pancreas, adrenaline
mediates their effects in pancreas by acting on a - and badrenergic receptors (4). All of them are members of Gprotein coupled receptors family (GPCR). In endocrine
pancreas all three subtypes of a 2 -adrenoceptors and b2 adrenoceptors have been discovered (18, 19). Recent studies
indicate that a subtype a2A-adrenoceptor is the most abundant
in mouse (20) and human pancreatic islets (4). a2-receptors
mediate the cellular signaling through the Gi -dependent
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shown to drive submembrane fluctuations of cAMP (28, 35, 36),
and sensitize the exocytosis machinery to Ca2+, thus promoting
insulin exocytosis at lower Ca2+ concentration (35, 37). On the
other hand, the glucose as receptor ligand concept developed
mostly independently, uncovering the molecular complexity of
glucose sensing with sweet taste receptors expressed in
pancreatic beta cell (38, 39), however with relatively little
intersection to the leading concept described above.
Adrenaline, on the other hand stimulates glucagon secretion
via a1 - and b-adrenergic receptors (40). The underlying
mechanism has been demonstrated to involve activation of badrenergic receptors that is subsequently leading to increased
levels of cAMP (5). cAMP presumably enhances glucagon
secretion by mobilizing Ca 2+ from intracellular stores,
enhancing Ca 2+ influx through plasma membrane and
mobilizing secretory granules containing glucagon (40, 41).
Additionally, to changes in [cAMP] c activation of a 1 adrenergic receptors on alpha cells results in increased levels
of [Ca2+]c (40).
In a majority of functional islets studies, unphysiologically
high or low glucose concentrations have been used to assess
functional properties of alpha and beta cells. High levels of
adrenaline have been utilized to further differentiate between
these two cell types in isolated islet and pancreatic slices. In this
paper we demonstrate that stimulating beta cell collectives with
physiological glucose concentration triggers [Ca2+]c events, are
readily inhibited by physiological adrenaline concentration
levels. To inhibit beta cell stimulated with supraphysiological
glucose levels requires progressively higher adrenalin
concentration, which can be orders of magnitude above the
physiological levels.
individually ventilated cages (Allentown) in standard
conditions. Mice were used for pancreas tissue slices
preparation as described before (42, 43). Briefly, mice were
euthanized with CO 2, and killed by cervical dislocation.
Laparotomy was performed to access abdominal cavity. Next,
we distally clamped the common bile duct at the major duodenal
papilla, allowing low-melting point 1.9% agarose at 40°C (Lonza,
Basel, Switzerland) to perfuse pancreatic ducts. Agarose was
dissolved in extracellular solution consisting of (in mM) 125
NaCl, 2.5 KCl, 26 NaHCO3, 1.25 NaH2PO4, 2 Na pyruvate, 0.25
ascorbic acid, 3 myo-inositol, 6 glucose, 1 MgCl2, 2 CaCl2 and 6
lactic acid (ECS). Promptly after agarose injection, the perfused
pancreas was cooled with ice-cold ECS, extracted, embedded
into agarose blocks, and finally cut into 140 µM thick pancreas
tissue slices using vibratome (VT 1000 S, Leica Microsystems).
The successful injection of agarose is a critical step in pancreas
slice preparation. Slices were collected in HEPES buffered
solution (HBS) at room temperature composed of (in mM)
150 NaCl, 10 HEPES, 5 KCl, 2 CaCl2, 1 MgCl2; titrated to
pH=7.4 using 1 M NaOH. For staining, slices were incubated for
50 min at room temperature in the dye-loading solution
consisting of 6 µM Calbryte 520 AM, a Ca 2+ sensitive
indicator (AAT Bioquest), 0.03% Pluronic F-127 (w/v) and
0.12% dimethylsulphoxide (w/v) dissolved in HBS. If not
specified otherwise, all chemicals were obtained from SigmaAldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA.
[Ca2+]c imaging and stimulation protocol
Imaging was performed on a Leica TCS SP5 upright confocal
system using a Leica HCX APO L water immersion objective
(20x, NA 1.0) or Leica TCS SP5 DMI6000 CS inverted confocal
system using HC PL APO water/oil immersion objective (20x,
NA 0.7). Acquisition frequency was set to 20 Hz at 256 x 256
pixels, pixel size to around 1 µm2. Calbryte 520 was excited by a
488 nm argon laser. Emitted fluorescence was detected and
measured by a Leica HyD hybrid detector in the range of 500700 nm with the standard or photon-counting mode (Leica
Microsystems, Germany).
Before [Ca2+]c imaging, pancreas tissue slices were kept at
substimulatory glucose concentration (6 mM) in HBS. To avoid
bias related to slices originating from different anatomic regions
of pancreas, slices have been mixed and randomly picked up
for imaging. After the preincubation period slices were
transferred into an imaging perfusion system with 6 mM
glucose in ECS and maintained at 37°C, after which ECS with
physiological stimulatory (8 or 9 mM) or supraphysiological
glucose concentrations (12, 16 or 20 mM) were used to stimulate
[Ca2+]c events. Adrenalin concentrations in the concentration
range between 0.1 and 5000 nM have been used. Forskolin has
been used at 100 and 500 nM concentrations.
Materials and methods
Ethics statement
The study has been conducted strictly following all national
and European (Directive 2010/63 EU) recommendations on the
care and handling of experimental animals. All efforts to
minimize the suffering of animals and to implement
improvements in animal care and welfare were made.
Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Food Safety,
Veterinary Sector and Plant Protection approved the
experimental protocol (Licence No: U34401-12/2015/3) and so
did The Ministry of Education, Science and Research, Republic
of Austria (Licence No: 2020-0.488.800).
Tissue slice preparation and dye loading
C57BL/6J mice of either sex, 10-45 weeks of age, were kept
on a 12:12h light:dark (light 7 a.m.-7 p.m.) schedule in
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Analyses
was composed of initial and mostly non-correlated transient phase
with predominantly long events of mean duration of tens of
seconds, followed by the cross-corelated plateau phase where
short events with duration 2-3 s represented a dominant
time domain.
The analysis of [Ca2+]c events has been performed as
previously described (44). Briefly, the movies were processed
using custom Python script to automatically detect ROIs
corresponding to individual cells. Within the detected ROIs
the events were characterized by the start time, peakpoint time
at the maximal amplitude, and the width of the pulse at the half
of the height, which is a parameter we used to evaluate the
duration of the event. The processing step included motion and
phase correction. Beta cells were identified based on their typical
activity pattern, being inactive at non-stimulatory glucose
concentration (6 mM) and reacting in a biphasic manner
when stimulated by 8 mM glucose. All cells outside
histologically identifiable islet have been discarded from
further analysis. In the next step, [Ca 2+ ] c events were
automatically distilled and annotated from each ROI.
For this study, altogether 35 slices have been imaged. Out of
these, 10, 8, 8, 9, and 1 slices were subjected to 8, 9, 12, 16, and 20
mM glucose, respectively. The time period of slice exposure to
stimulatory glucose concentration was adjusted to let the beta
cells to achieve a stable plateau activity (32, 44). Such a stable
plateau activity was a prerequisite for sequent exposure to
progressively higher adrenaline concentration to fully inhibit
[Ca2+]c events at all dominant time scales. To statistically
compare the data we log transformed them. The mean value
and its standard error has been computed from the mean values
from individual islets. A one-way Anova and Bonferroni post hoc
correction for multiple tests have been used to evaluate
differences between pairs of treatment at significance level
below 0.001.
Adrenaline in physiological concentration
inhibited glucose-dependent beta cell
activity and stimulated alpha cell activity
In this study we demonstrated for the first time that using
fresh pancreas tissue slices, it is possible to study the effects of
physiological levels of adrenaline on [Ca2+]c dynamics in alpha
and beta cells exposed to physiological glucose levels. We
showed that adrenaline in a concentration-dependent manner
and in physiological concentration range differentially affected
both pancreatic endocrine cell types (Figure 1). We found that
adrenaline concentration that has been sufficient to inhibit
glucose-dependent [Ca2+]c events in beta cells, was sufficient to
trigger [Ca 2+ ]c events in alpha cells in a concentrationdependent manner despite high glucose (Figures 1E–H). This
enabled us to readdress the physiol og ical r ole of
sympathoadrenal system in islet cells in situ. In some islets
stimulated with 8 mM glucose, even the lowest measured
physiological concentration of adrenaline (0.5 nM), equivalent
to non-stressed conditions was able to inhibit [Ca2+]c events in
some beta cell collectives. The effect of adrenaline was reversible
and after a washout, cells returned to their normal activity. To
summarize, when beta cells were stimulated with physiological
glucose levels, physiological concentration of adrenaline in a low
nanomolar range was sufficient to completely inhibit beta cell
collective activity and to stimulate the alpha cell activity.
Results
Inhibitory effect of adrenaline on beta
cells is glucose-dependent
This study was designed to evaluate the physiological effect of
adrenaline on glucose stimulated [Ca2+]c events in beta cell
collectives. For this, confocal microscopy with high spatial and
temporal resolution has been used to record changes in [Ca2+]c over
prolonged periods of time in pancreatic islet in situ. For the analysis
we used custom-made Phyton scripts to first identify individual
ROI, and second distill and annotate [Ca2+]c events within these
ROIs. [Ca2+]c events were evoked by stimulatory glucose in the
concentration range from 8 to 20 mM. Using a wide range of
adrenaline concentrations, we attempted to completely suppress the
activity elicited by glucose. As reported before, physiological glucose
stimulation triggers [Ca2+]c events in three primary time domains,
ultra-short, dominant short and long events, reflecting different
levels of temporal summation of ultra-short events (Figures 1A–D).
At progressively higher glucose stimulation the densities
redistribute in favor of longer events due to more temporal
summation. A biphasic [Ca2+]c response to glucose stimulation
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The first question that arose from the high sensitivity of beta
cells to adrenaline under physiological conditions was whether
this sensitivity is conserved also with increased glucose load.
Could low nM range of adrenaline inhibit activation of beta cell
collectives stimulated with 12 mM or higher glucose? Exposure
of the islets to progressively higher glucose concentration
demanded a progressively higher adrenaline concentration to
complete its inhibition (Figure 2). Despite the relatively high
variability in inhibitory adrenaline concentration required for
inhibition of the dominant time scale events at progressively
higher glucose concentration, there was an evident and rather
steep concentration-dependence, and progressively higher
adrenaline concentrations were needed to stop the activity of
beta cell collectives (Figure 2). It is therefore not surprising that
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A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
FIGURE 1
The effect of physiological adrenaline on beta and alpha cells activity at 8 mM glucose. (A-D) Beta cells, (E-H) Alpha cells. (A, E), Regions of
interest (ROIs) obtained by our segmentation algorithm. The color indicates the number of events identified in the ROI trace, upon a high-pass
filtering at 0.2Hz. We discarded ROIs with number of events below the threshold (red dashed line in the histogram in the lower panel). Indicated
are the ROI numbers whose filtered traces correlate best with the average trace for the whole islet. (B, F), Events’ halfwidth duration through
time. Note the ranges of halfwidth duration occurring, the events’ synchronicity, and a concentration-dependent block of the activity in beta
cells, as well as activation in alpha cells with increasing adrenaline concentration. Color indicates the statistical significance in terms of z -score
as indicated. The treatment protocol is indicated in the bar at the bottom of the pane. Due to a significantly larger number of ROIs
corresponding to beta cells in comparison to alpha cells, this representation should not be used to compare the activity of both cell types
directly. (C, G), Normalized Gaussian fits through the logarithmic distribution of halfwidth duration, indicated temporal summation producing 3
discrete modes in beta cells and mostly 1 mode in alpha cells. (D, H), Time courses from ROIs indicated in A and E, exposed to an increasing
concentration of adrenaline, and rebinned to 2 Hz (recorded at 20 Hz).
to override the inhibitory effect of adrenaline on beta cells
(Figures 3A–D). This reactivation could in turn be inhibited
again with an order of magnitude higher adrenaline
concentration in comparison to that used to inhibit 8 mM
glucose. Following the same pattern, the effect of adrenaline
concentration, sufficient to inhibit beta cell activity at 12 mM
glucose could be rescued by 16 mM glucose. Another order of
magnitude higher adrenaline concentration has been required to
inhibit beta cells activated at 12 mM glucose (Figures 3A–D).
isolated beta cells or islets, routinely stimulated with
supraphysiological glucose concentration in a range between
15 and 25 mM, were found to have a rather low sensitivity to
pharmacological inhibition with adrenaline. High concentration
of adrenaline (5 µM) were needed to differentiate between
pancreatic alpha and beta cells (16, 17).
Based on these results, the next question was, if stronger
glucose stimulation could reverse adrenaline inhibition? A
glucose increase to 12 mM, rather than 9 mM, was sufficient
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A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
FIGURE 2
The effect of adrenaline on beta cell activity at supraphysiological glucose stimulation. (A-D) 12 mM glucose stimulation, (E-H) 20 mM glucose
stimulation. (A, E), Regions of interest (ROIs) obtained by our segmentation algorithm. The color indicates the number of events identified in the
ROI trace, upon a high-pass filtering at 0.2Hz. We discarded ROIs with number of events below the threshold (red dashed line in the histogram
in the lower panel). Indicated are the ROI numbers whose filtered traces correlate best with the average trace for the whole islet. (B, F), Events’
halfwidth duration through time. Note the ranges of halfwidth duration occurring, the events’ synchronicity, and a concentration-dependent
increase in frequency and halfwidth duration of [Ca2+]c events. Color indicates the statistical significance in terms of z -score as indicated. The
treatment protocol is indicated in the bar at the bottom of the pane. (C, G), Normalized Gaussian fit through the logarithmic distribution of
halfwidth duration, indicated temporal summation producing 3 discrete modes in beta cells. (D, H), Time courses from ROIs indicated in (A, E),
exposed to an increasing concentration of adrenaline, and rebinned to 2Hz (recorded at 20Hz). (I), Adrenaline concentration-dependent
inhibition of glucose-dependent activation of beta cell collectives. The mean of islet means +/- SEM (blue dots and lines), and individual islet
means (orange dots). The number of islets used for the plot was 10, 8, 8, 9, 1 for 8, 9, 12, 16 and 20 mM glucose, respectively. One-way Anova,
followed by a Bonferroni correction for multiple tests revealed the differences at the level below 0.001 between 8 mM glucose and both 12 and
16 mM glucose.
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Direct pharmacological stimulation of
cAMP production with forskolin restores
beta cell activity after adrenalineinduced inhibition
direct stimulator of the adenylate cyclase, which has been
previously described to raise the cytosolic cAMP concentration
over several orders of magnitude in a concentration-dependent
manner (33, 45). To fairly mimic the effect observed with
glucose, we had to lower the concentration of forskolin from
typically used 10 µM, to the nM range. Already 500 nM
concentration of forskolin namely sufficed to reproduce the
effect of higher glucose concentration (Figures 3E–H). At 10
µM forskolin, only very long [Ca2+]c events, typically observed at
very high glucose stimulation have been observed. To
summarize, since forskolin alone was able to rescue [Ca2+]c
Our next question has been whether high glucose
concentration rescue of adrenaline inhibition of beta cell
collectives could be reproduced by directly pharmacological
targeting of the cAMP production? To assess this, we first
stimulated islets with physiological levels of glucose, inhibited
the response with adrenaline, and finally added forskolin, a
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
FIGURE 3
The rescue of adrenaline inhibition of 8 mM stimulated beta cell collective activity with higher glucose concentration or forskolin. (A-D) Rescue
with 12 mM glucose, (E-H) Rescue with 500 nM foskolin. (A, E), Regions of interest (ROIs) obtained by our segmentation algorithm. The color
indicates the number of events identified in the ROI trace, upon a high-pass filtering at 0.2Hz. We discarded ROIs with number of events below
the threshold (red dashed line in the histogram in the lower panel). Indicated are the ROI numbers whose filtered traces correlate best with the
average trace for the whole islet. (B, F), [Ca2+]c events’ halfwidth duration through time. Color indicates the statistical significance in terms of z
-score as indicated. The treatment protocol is indicated in the bar at the bottom of the pane. (C, G), Normalized Gaussian fit through the
logarithmic distribution of halfwidth duration. (D, H), Time courses from ROIs indicated in (A, E), exposed to an increasing concentration of
adrenaline or forskolin, and rebinned to 2Hz (recorded at 20Hz).
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events, we suggest that in addition to raising [Ca2+]c in beta cells,
different levels of glucose, could similarly to forskolin, increase
cytosolic cAMP concentration over several orders of magnitude.
level triggered a biphasic activation of beta cell collectives
(Figures 4B-D). Returning glucose concentration back to 6
mM resulted in a complete stop of activity, and switching back
to 7 mM glucose, resumed a plateau activity matching the
original stimulation measured as frequency and halfwidth
duration of [Ca2+]c events. It must be however emphasized
that 500 nM forskolin increases the frequency of spontaneous
[Ca2+]c events also at sub threshold glucose concentration
(Figure 4E). In summary, cAMP concentration is an important
cytosolic factor to control the activity of beta cell collectives in
situ, however it is not sufficient to activate the crosscorrelated activity.
Sufficient level of cAMP does not trigger
but is required to support coherent
activation of beta cell collectives
We have demonstrated that cytosolic cAMP concentration
could be strongly influenced by extracellular glucose
concentration, increasing cAMP concentration over several
orders of magnitude. Higher cAMP levels significantly
influenced the pattern of [Ca 2+ ] c changes in beta cells,
particularly influencing the plateau phase activity. The last
remaining question was, whether an increase of the cytosolic
cAMP in sub-stimulatory glucose concentration would be
sufficient to trigger and maintain the coherent activation of
beta cells collectives (46). As can be seen in Figure 4, forskolin at
concentrations sufficient to rescue the adrenalin inhibition,
failed to trigger cross-correlated activity in beta cell collectives.
Sequent increase of glucose to 7 mM, just above the threshold
A
B
C
D
Discussion
It has been previously shown that glucose stimulation of beta
cells can result in the cytosolic accumulation of cAMP (29). This
accumulation has been however found to play only a minor role in
direct stimulation of insulin release, but exerted a prominent
modulation of the process (28). The currently dominant concept
regarding pathways regulating the cytosolic level of this potent
E
FIGURE 4
The effect of foskolin stimulation of beta at glucose concentrations around the stimulation threshold. (A), Regions of interest (ROIs) obtained by
our segmentation algorithm. The color indicates the number of events identified in the ROI trace, upon a high-pass filtering at 0.2Hz. We
discarded ROIs with number of events below the threshold. Indicated are the ROI numbers whose filtered traces correlate best with the average
trace for the whole islet. (B), [Ca2+]c events’ halfwidth duration through time. Note numerous random [Ca2+]c events at 6 mM glucose and
cross-correlated activity at 7 mM glucose. Color indicates the statistical significance in terms of z -score as indicated. The treatment protocol is
indicated in the bar at the bottom of the pane. (C), Normalized Gaussian fit through the logarithmic distribution of halfwidth. (D), Time courses
from ROIs indicated in A, rebinned to 2Hz (recorded at 20Hz). (A, E) raster plot of [Ca2+]c events sorted by their peak times. Note the
progressive recruitment of beta cells at sub threshold glucose concentration and explosive activation, reactivation and cross-correlation with 7
mM glucose. The abscissa is shared for all plots on the right side.
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second messenger molecule would include metabolic, hormonal
and neural, but no direct glucose as ligand inputs to beta cells (32).
The evidence for a direct glucose sensing that could significantly
contribute to the cytosolic production of cAMP has been provided
early on (29, 30). This concept, following the so-called receptor
hypothesis involves G-protein coupled glucose receptor and has
recently received a strong molecular support (38, 39, 47–49). Still, in
the last half of a century both concepts regarding glucose-dependent
origin of cAMP developed a rather poor intersection. We therefore
decided to readdress the role of cAMP in glucose-dependent
activation of beta cell collectives and potential complementarity of
the concepts mentioned above. To achieve this, we used fresh
pancreas slices for advanced imaging and analysis of [Ca2+]c events.
Our results suggest, that glucose alone, similarly to forskolin
promotes beta cell activity with generation of cAMP in beta cells.
The dynamic range of intracellular levels of cAMP are
conceivably similarly steeply dependent on stimulatory glucose
concentration used. The changes in cytosolic cAMP
concentration from any of the possible sources, either directly
G-protein mediated, metabolic, hormonal or neural inputs
modulate the beta cell activity, possibly leading to changed
insulin release. In this study we used the fact that adrenaline
exerts its major inhibitory effect on beta cells, likely through a2adrenergic receptors. Such adrenergic receptor activation leads
to a decreased AC activity, lowering of cAMP levels and reduced
activity of downstream targets, like PKA. In our previous
publication we demonstrated that lowered cAMP levels
desensitized Ca2+ -dependent machinery in late stages of
regulated insulin exocytosis through a reduction of the fusion
probability of insulin granules (37). In the present study, we
upgraded this with the observation that reduced cytosolic cAMP
also reduces processes which are upstream to exocytotic events,
namely glucose-dependent [Ca2+]c events. The events on the
plateau phase of the beta cell activity present a stable and
reproducible platform to assess the effect of a certain signaling
manipulation on [Ca2+]c (32, 44, 50). We have previously shown
that this plateau activity mainly represents intracellular Ca2+
release, in the form of Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release (CICR),
including IP 3 and ryanodine receptors, which are both
sufficient and necessary for this activity (44, 50). Both
receptors represent important targets for PKA (51), and their
phosphorylation is known to destabilize the receptors and
increase the opening probability of the channels and increase
CICR (52). We therefore hypothesized that reducing cytosolic
cAMP concentration using adrenaline should prevent
phosphorylation, stabilize intracellular Ca2+ channels, reduce
CICR and abolish [Ca2+]c events. But why does glucoseindependent elevation of cAMP production and PKA activity
not lead to destabilization of intracellular Ca2+ receptors,
followed by an increased insulin release? This can be
addressed first classically with a need for increased
Frontiers in Endocrinology
metabolism, ATP production and initiation of ATP-dependent
processes that eventually lead to [Ca2+]c and activation of AC
(53). Additionally, we need to remind ourselves that specifically
in beta cells, ER Ca2+ load, and related Ca2+ current amplitude
during the release from the ER, has a strict glucose dependence
(54), and glucose removal results in rapid depletion of the stores
(55). Therefore, PKA-dependent destabilization of intracellular
Ca2+ channels can only be productive when the amplitude of
intracellular Ca2+ currents is high enough to ignite neighboring
channels in the process of CICR (52). Evidence for a version of
this concept has been previously provided for INS-1 and mouse
beta cells (56).
It is widely accepted that, even at close to threshold glucose
concentration, isolated manipulation of the cytosolic cAMP with
high concentration of forskolin should not trigger [Ca2+]c events
on their own (28). Our approach enabled us to have a closer look
at this, since it is superior to previous tests, with unprecedented
temporal and spatial resolution, combined with automatized
detection of both ROIs and events. It is obvious that elevation of
cAMP levels at sub stimulatory glucose does not trigger the
cross-correlated response in beta cell collectives as stimulatory
glucose does, but it does significantly increase the number of
spontaneous and non-correlated [Ca2+]c events, which are
measurable, but likely difficult to pick up as a significant signal
within the dynamic range of available insulin hormone
release assays.
On the other hand, a drop in the cAMP level due to
presence of physiological level of adrenaline could readily and
reversibly inhibit beta cell [Ca2+]c events on the plateau,
stimulated by physiological concentration of glucose.
Glucose-dependent processes, which present themselves as
cross-correlated activity of beta cell collectives, therefore
involve both [Ca2+]c concentration needed to trigger activity,
as well as a broad range of glucose-concentration-dependent
cAMP levels that can provide a whole spectrum of activation
and deactivation phenotypes. To support this latter
observation, we provide three lines of evidence. Firstly, at a
progressively higher stimulatory glucose concentration, a
progressively higher adrenaline stimulation of a2-adrenergic
receptors was required to inhibit the beta cell activity. More
quantitatively, doubling of stimulatory glucose concentration
stimulated beta cell collective activity so high that two orders
of magnitude higher concentration of adrenaline were
required to inhibit [Ca 2+ ] c events. Secondly, subsequent
application of a higher glucose concentration could override
the inhibitory effect of adrenaline obtained a lower glucose
concentration, and this activity could only be inhibited with a
non-linearly higher adrenaline concentration. And thirdly,
specific elevation of cAMP level with forskolin could
override the inhibitory adrenaline effect in a similar way
to glucose.
09
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10.3389/fendo.2022.1013697
dependent changes in the opening probability of L-type
voltage-activated channels, although we did not explore the
whole concentration range (37).
It has been reported that [Ca2+]c events in beta cells are well
coordinated with cAMP oscillations (35, 36) and that these
oscillations together are crucial for insulin release. When [Ca2+]c
in beta cells is elevated, metabolism in the cell is a potent trigger for
cAMP production (35). Moreover, elevation in Ca2+ levels is
sufficient to trigger rise of cAMP levels in beta cell (60).
Interestingly, [cAMP]c response can be augmented by Ca2+,
however at the same time appears [Ca2+]c oscillations are not
essential for glucose-induced oscillations of [cAMP]c (36), since in
intact islets [cAMP]c oscillations were preserved (but suppressed)
after glucose-stimulated Ca2+ influx was prevented or Ca2+ was
removed from the extracellular space (35). New findings, giving Ca2+
influx a minor role and suggesting intracellular Ca2+ stores and
receptors play a key role in shaping glucose-dependent [Ca2+]c
responses (44) could weaken the interpretation discussed above.
Since islet containing pancreas tissue slices that were
subjected to Ca2+ imaging were chosen randomly, it is only
logical to assume the observed variability could arise from
regional differences in density of sympathetic innervation,
since it was reported that head and neck regions contain
higher levels of NA in the ganglia (61). Variability could also
be due to different density in a- and b-adrenergic receptors
expressed on beta cells (2). NA and adrenaline were shown to
have also stimulatory effects on insulin secretion, through direct
and indirect actions. Firstly, glucagon released by alpha cells
activated by the sympathoadrenal system (62), can stimulate
insulin release from beta cells (2). Secondly, it is considered that
sympathoadrenal system activates b2-adrenoceptors on beta
cells directly to stimulate insulin secretion (63). The net effect
of physiological actions of catecholamines and NA released by
postganglionic sympathetic nerve fibers on insulin secretion is
dependent on density of a- and b-adrenergic receptors
expressed on beta cells. For this reason the net effect of
sympathoadrenal system on insulin secretion from pancreatic
beta cells is likely a mé lange of inhibitory and stimulatory effects
on insulin secretion (2). We could readily observe the long-term
stimulatory effects of adrenaline on alpha cell function, however
under our experimental conditions, only a mild and transient
positive effect of low concentration of adrenaline which resulted
in an elevated bursting frequency soon after the addition of low
adrenalin concentration. Such transient boost of insulin
secretion at the beginning of the stress condition could help to
provide faster availability of nutrients to critical tissues.
To conclude, glucose stimulate both intracellular Ca2+
release, and as suggested by our adrenaline inhibition data, a
broad range of activities that could similarly as forskolin produce
changes in the cytosolic concentration of cAMP in beta cells.
Consequently, cAMP levels could exert a wide range shaping of
activation and deactivation patterns of these cells in situ in fresh
pancreas tissue slices.
The non-linear relationship between the glucoseconcentration and beta cell activity may have significant
repercussions. Firstly, regarding the interpretations of the
results of the experiments obtained at acute supraphysiological
glucose concentrations, where cAMP levels may be orders of
magnitude above the physiological levels and with the
downstream effectors maximally activated. This scenario is
realistic in culturing beta cell, where high glucose levels in
culture media are common. And secondly, it could provide
novel insights regarding the efficiency of the sympathoadrenal
system in the pathogenesis of hyperglycemia and diabetes
mellitus, as it has been shown early on that the catecholamines
are elevated in diabetes. Long-term hyperglycemia during the
prediabetic phases due to progressive insulin resistance could
wind up cytosolic cAMP levels and challenge the efficiency of the
sympathoadrenal system. In theory, in diabetic context the
influence of sympathoadrenal system can either be increased
or decreased. It has been previously demonstrated that in
diabetic rats a2A-adrenergic receptors get upregulated (23).
However, such overexpression could on the long run result in
downregulation of downstream proteins involved in cAMP
production, and lowering cytosolic cAMP levels and inducing
beta cells stress, followed by a reduced function. This would also
be one possible explanation why in type 2 diabetics, the
sensitivity to GLP-1 is severely impaired (57).
In some previous studies, adrenaline in physiological
concentrations has been applied to study insulin release
inhibition in beta cells. Rat isolated islet were susceptible to 0.1
nM adrenaline, whereas almost complete insulin secretion
inhibition was achieved with 100 nM adrenaline, when
isolated islets were stimulated with 15 mM glucose
concentration (13). Similarly, adrenaline concentration
dependency on insulin secretion inhibition in mice was also
previously described. Adrenaline at 0.1 nM in the presence of 15
mM glucose had no effect. Partial inhibition was observed at 1
nM adrenaline and it was almost complete at 1 µM adrenaline
(14). These results are in good agreement with our data. When
beta cells were stimulated with similar glucose concentration (16
mM), adrenaline in the same concentration range was required
to inhibit [Ca2+]c events. Also glucose dependence of adrenaline
inhibition has been previously shown using electrical activity
measurements (58). In the present study we confirmed these
observations at more physiological and in situ conditions with
improved spatial and temporal resolution.
It is worth mentioning that PKA and intracellular Ca2+
release may not be the exclusive target of cAMP, as exchange
protein directly activated by cAMP (EPAC2) (59). In addition,
adrenaline has been shown to attenuate insulin release via
coupling of a2A-adrenoceptor to cAMP/TRPM2 signaling
transient receptor potential melastatin 2 (TRPM2), a type of
nonselective cation channel (NSCC), which affects membrane
potential and contributes to inhibition of beta cells (15). In beta
cells in tissue slices we were not able to reproduce PKA-
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10.3389/fendo.2022.1013697
Data availability statement
Funding
The original contributions presented in the study are
included in the article/supplementary materials. Further
inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.
MR receives grants by the Austrian Science Fund/Fonds zur
Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (bilateral grants
I3562-B27 and I4319-B30), and from NIH (R01DK127236). MR
and AS further received financial support from the Slovenian
Research Agency (research core funding programs P3-0396 and
I0-0029, as well as projects N3-0048, N3-0133 and J3-9289).
Ethics statement
The animal study was reviewed and approved by The
Ministry of Education, Science and Research, Republic of
Austria (Licence No: 2020-0.488.800), Administration of the
Republic of Slovenia for Food Safety, Veterinary Sector and
Plant Protection (Licence No: U34401-12/2015/3).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the
absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could
be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Author contributions
Publisher’s note
Conceptualization, NS and MSR. Methodology, NS, SP, JP,
LKB, JK, MSK, SS, AS, and DK. Writing-original draft
preparation, NS, and MSR. Writing-review and editing, NS,
SP, JP, LKB, JK, MSK, SS, AS, DK, and MSR. Funding
acquisition, AS and MSR. All authors have read and agreed to
the published version of the manuscript.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the
authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated
organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the
reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or
claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed
or endorsed by the publisher.
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