The role of the KATP channel in glucose homeostasis in health and disease: more than meets the islet.

ATP-sensitive potassium (K(ATP)) channels are critical for the maintenance of glucose homeostasis. They are essential for glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from pancreatic beta-cells, contribute to the mechanisms by which hypoglycaemia stimulates glucagon release from pancreatic alpha-cells, and are involved in glucose uptake into skeletal muscle, glucose production and release from the liver, and feeding behaviour. Not surprisingly, loss- or gain-of-function mutations in K(ATP) channel genes have profound effects, giving rise to congenital hyperinsulinaemia and neonatal diabetes respectively. This symposium review focuses on our current understanding of the role of the K(ATP) channel in glucose homeostasis in health and disease.