Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase

Secretion

Biochemistry

Enzyme

Biology

Endocrinology

Insulin

Adenosine triphosphate

Pyruvate kinase

Metabolism

Cell biology

Oxidative phosphorylation

Internal medicine

Glycolysis

Mitochondrion

Medicine

Cell Metabolism

Lewandowski et al. demonstrate that pyruvate kinase, rather than oxidative phosphorylation, is the ATP/ADP generator that closes β cell KATP channels to initiate insulin secretion. Small-molecule activators of pyruvate kinase potently amplify insulin secretion by switching mitochondria from oxidative phosphorylation to anaplerotic phosphoenolpyruvate biosynthesis.

Pyruvate Kinase Controls Signal Strength in the Insulin Secretory Pathway