Age matters: Grading granule secretion in beta cells.

Insulin is stored in secretory granules to facilitate rapid release in response to rising glucose levels, but the mechanisms by which these granules are identified and prioritized for secretion remains unclear. Using a fluorescent timer and flow cytometry-assisted organelle sorting, Yau et al. develop an elegant approach to assess insulin secretion as a function of granule age in pancreatic islet beta cells. Their findings supply quantitative evidence supporting the age-dependent release of different granule pools and confirm earlier models of preferential release of younger granules.