The Walter B. Cannon Physiology in Perspective Lecture, 2007. ATP-sensitive K+ channels and disease: from molecule to malady

Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2007 Oct;293(4):E880-9. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00348.2007. Epub 2007 Jul 24.

Abstract

This essay is based on a lecture given to the American Physiological Society in honor of Walter B. Cannon, an advocate of homeostasis. It focuses on the role of the ATP-sensitive potassium K(+) (K(ATP)) channel in glucose homeostasis and, in particular, on its role in insulin secretion from pancreatic beta-cells. The beta-cell K(ATP) channel comprises pore-forming Kir6.2 and regulatory SUR1 subunits, and mutations in either type of subunit can result in too little or too much insulin release. Here, I review the latest information on the relationship between K(ATP) channel structure and function, and consider how mutations in the K(ATP) channel genes lead to neonatal diabetes or congenital hyperinsulinism.

Publication types

  • Lecture
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adenosine Triphosphate / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Channelopathies / etiology*
  • Channelopathies / genetics
  • Diabetes Mellitus / congenital
  • Diabetes Mellitus / genetics
  • Diabetes Mellitus / therapy
  • Glucose / metabolism
  • Homeostasis / genetics
  • Homeostasis / physiology
  • Humans
  • Models, Biological
  • Models, Molecular
  • Mutation
  • Potassium Channels / chemistry
  • Potassium Channels / genetics
  • Potassium Channels / physiology*
  • Potassium Channels, Inwardly Rectifying / genetics

Substances

  • Kir6.2 channel
  • Potassium Channels
  • Potassium Channels, Inwardly Rectifying
  • Adenosine Triphosphate
  • Glucose