The αβδ of ion channels in human islet cells

Abstract

Ion channels in the plasma membrane are critical for coupling metabolic signals to hormone release from pancreatic islet cells. The increased availability of human islets for research purposes has recently enabled us to perform a more detailed characterization of ion channels in human β-cells as well as in human δ- and α-cells. This addendum summarizes the major differences between mouse and human β-cells and discusses some of the remaining open questions. In addition, differences between the ion channel complements of human β-cells and islet non-β-cells are addressed.