A role for calcium release-activated current (CRAC) in cholinergic modulation of electrical activity in pancreatic beta-cells

Model Status

This model runs in both COR and PCEnv to reproduce the figures shown in the original paper. The units have been checked and they are consistent.

Model Structure

ABSTRACT: S. Bordin and colleagues have proposed that the depolarizing effects of acetylcholine and other muscarinic agonists on pancreatic beta-cells are mediated by a calcium release-activated current (CRAC). We support this hypothesis with additional data, and present a theoretical model which accounts for most known data on muscarinic effects. Additional phenomena, such as the biphasic responses of beta-cells to changes in glucose concentration and the depolarizing effects of the sarco-endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase pump poison thapsigargin, are also accounted for by our model. The ability of this single hypothesis, that CRAC is present in beta-cells, to explain so many phenomena motivates a more complete characterization of this current.

The complete paper reference is cited below:

A Role for Calcium Release-Activated Current (CRAC) in Cholinergic Modulation of Electrical Activity in Pancreatic Beta-Cells, Richard Bertram, Paul Smolen, Arthur Sherman, David Mears, Illani Atwater, Franz Martin and Bernat Soria, 1995, Biophysical Journal, 68, 2323-2332. PubMed ID: 7647236