Junctional communication of pancreatic β cells contributes to the control of insulin secretion and glucose tolerance
J. Clin. Invest. Anne Charollais, et al. 106:235 doi:10.1172/JCI9398 [Go to this article.]

Figure 6
Transgenic mice expressing Cx32 show improved electrical synchronization and glucose-induced Ca²⁺ changes. (a) Left panel: typical burst activity induced by 11 mM glucose in two control β cells. The expanded trace of one burst shows that distant cells were slightly asynchronous in control islets. ^A1.25 seconds. Right panel: in islets of transgenic animals, bursts were longer and fully synchronous. (b) [Ca²⁺]_i evaluated in the presence of 5 mM glucose was lower in control than transgenic islets. Stimulation by 11 mM glucose caused [Ca²⁺]_i to increase in an oscillatory manner within most islets of both control (top panel) and transgenic mice (bottom panel). However, compared with controls, [Ca²⁺]_i oscillations were longer and of higher amplitude within transgenic islets.