A Metabolite-Regulated Potassium Channel in Rat Pancreatic B Cells

In B cells from dispersed rat islet of Langerhans we have identified an inward rectifying voltage-independent K+ channel whose behavior parallels the metabolically regulated potassium permeability (PK) found in tracer flux and microelectrode recording studies. In cell-attached patches of membrane, the channel is closed when any one of several substrates (glucose, mannose, leucine, or glyceraldehyde) is added to the cell's bathing solution but is reopened on addition of an appropriate metabolic inhibitor, which prevents utilization of that substrate. In inside-out excised patches, a K+ channel with nearly identical kinetic features is closed by addition of micromolar concentrations of ATP to the ``cytoplasmic'' solution. The ATP sensitivity of channel activity is modified by addition of ADP, suggesting competition at a nucleotide binding site. These results suggest the presence of a metabolically regulated K+ channel gated by intracellular concentrations of ATP or the ratio of ATP/ADP concentrations.