Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Electrical Activity in Pancreatic Islet Cells

Abstract

RECENT work of Hales and Milner1 has drawn attention to the importance of inorganic cations in insulin secretion. From the ionic requirements of the secretory process it has been speculated that secretory stimulants may depolarize the membrane of the pancreatic β-cell and thereby accelerate insulin secretion from the islets of Langerhans. This study, using intracellular micro-electrodes, was undertaken to investigate directly the effect of glucose, L-leucine and tolbutamide on islet cell membrane potentials.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Hales, C. N., and Milner, R. D. G., J. Physiol., 194, 725 (1968).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Coore, H. G., and Randle, P. J., Biochem. J., 93, 66 (1964).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Matthews, E. K., J. Physiol., 189, 139 (1967).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Patent, G. J., and Alfert, M., Acta Anat., 66, 504 (1967).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Hodgkin, A. L., Proc. Roy. Soc., B, 148, 1 (1958).

    ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

DEAN, P., MATTHEWS, E. Electrical Activity in Pancreatic Islet Cells. Nature 219, 389–390 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/219389a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/219389a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing