Epinephrine-induced hyperpolarization of pancreatic islet cells is sensitive to PI3K–PDK1 signaling

Epinephrine inhibits insulin release by activation of K+ channels and subsequent hyperpolarization of pancreatic beta cells. The present study explored whether epinephrine-induced hyperpolarization is modified by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and phosphatidylinositide-dependent kinase PDK1. Perforated patch-clamp was performed in islet cells isolated from PDK1 hypomorphic mice (pdk1fl/fl), expressing only 20% of PDK1, and in their wild-type littermates. At 16.8 mM glucose, the cell membrane was hyperpolarized by epinephrine (1 μM), an effect significantly blunted in pdk1fl/fl and abrogated in wild-type cells by inhibition of PI3K with wortmannin (100 nM) or LY294002 (10 μM). The hyperpolarizing effect of epinephrine in pancreatic islet cells is thus sensitive to PI3K and PDK1.