A critical role of the mechanosensor PIEZO1 in glucose-induced insulin secretion in pancreatic β-cells

Glucose-induced insulin secretion depends on β-cell electrical activity. Inhibition of ATP-regulated potassium (K_ATP) channels is a key event in this process. However, K_ATP channel closure alone is not sufficient to induce β-cell electrical activity; activation of a depolarizing membrane current is also required. Here we examine the role of the mechanosensor ion channel PIEZO1 in this process. Yoda1, a specific PIEZO1 agonist, activates a small membrane current and thereby triggers β-cell electrical activity with resultant stimulation of Ca²⁺-influx and insulin secretion. Conversely, the PIEZO1 antagonist GsMTx4 reduces glucose-induced Ca²⁺-signaling, electrical activity and insulin secretion. Yet, PIEZO1 expression is elevated in islets from human donors with type-2 diabetes (T2D) and a rodent T2D model (db/db mouse), in which insulin secretion is reduced. This paradox is resolved by our finding that PIEZO1 translocates from the plasmalemma into the nucleus (where it cannot influence the membrane potential of the β-cell) under experimental conditions emulating T2D (high glucose culture). β-cell-specific Piezo1-knockout mice show impaired glucose tolerance in vivo and reduced glucose-induced insulin secretion, β-cell electrical activity and Ca²⁺ elevation in vitro. These results implicate mechanotransduction and activation of PIEZO1, via intracellular accumulation of glucose metabolites, as an important physiological regulator of insulin secretion.