What is it about?
It has recently been proposed that a special type of beta cell called a 'hub cell' serves as a special initiator or leader of the beta cells of the islet, possibly due to its special pattern of gene expression and resultant metabolic properties. While the existence of beta cell heterogeneity is not in question, the concept that certain beta cells lead the activity of the other beta cells to initiate islet oscillations is questioned here on the basis of well established electrophysiological principles that appear to us to contradict this concept. Several arguments are presented in detail along with imaging data to question the existence of hub cells and to suggest more evidence is sorely needed.
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Why is it important?
As the idea that hub cells are critically important for islet function is a popular and exciting prospect, with potential significance for the pathophysiology of Type 2 diabetes, increased scrutiny of the concept would seem warranted.
Perspectives
While we do not feel there are sufficient data to rule out the possibility that hub cells exist and are important, it is also not trivial to experimentally prove that they are. Furthermore, like all new ideas, our excitement about this new idea does not mean that it need not be critically scrutinized. In fact, the idea of the hub cell as a leader of all the other beta cells in an islet seems to go against some basic principles of electrophysiology.
Leslie Satin
University of Michigan
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: “Take Me To Your Leader”: An Electrophysiological Appraisal of the Role of Hub Cells in Pancreatic Islets, Diabetes, April 2020, American Diabetes Association,
DOI: 10.2337/dbi19-0012.
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