GABA Regulates Ca2+ Oscillations and Synchronization in Pancreatic Beta Cells.

BACKGROUND/

OBJECTIVES

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is increasingly recognized as an important modulator of pancreatic beta-cell function, but the mechanisms by which it regulates intracellular Ca2+ oscillations and coordinated beta-cell activity remain insufficiently understood. The aim of this study was to investigate how GABA influences the amplitude, frequency, phase adjustment, entrainment, and synchronization of beta-cell Ca2+ oscillations.

METHODS

We developed a reduced ATP-Ca2+ oscillation model, based on established beta-cell oscillatory frameworks, and coupled it to the GABA-shunt subsystem derived from our previously established Dual Anaplerotic Model. The model incorporates explicit dynamics of cytosolic Ca2+, endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+, ATP, and a regulatory variable controlling Ca2+ influx, while the interstitial GABA signal is represented as a delayed feedback signal acting on cellular excitability. Single-cell and two-cell simulations were performed to analyze GABA-dependent oscillatory regulation and intercellular coupling.

RESULTS

The model reproduced key experimental observations under both control and GABA-deficient conditions, including reduced Ca2+-oscillation amplitude and a prolonged oscillation period when GABA production was suppressed. Mechanistically, GABA affected single-cell oscillations through two complementary pathways: metabolically, by modulating ATP production through PEP-related and TCA-related contributions linked to the GABA shunt, and as an interstitial/paracrine signal, by adjusting the phase of Ca2+ influx through fast and delayed inhibitory feedback. In the reduced two-cell model, delayed interstitial GABA signaling could phase-lock non-identical oscillators over finite ranges of parameter mismatch. When included as an additional weak effective term, electrical coupling broadened these ranges, consistent with a complementary interaction between GABA-mediated phase adjustment and established electrical coupling.

CONCLUSIONS

GABA acts as a dual regulator of beta-cell dynamics, linking intracellular metabolism to Ca2+-oscillation patterning and promoting coordinated activity through intercellular phase adjustment. The model provides a mechanistic framework connecting GABA metabolism, ATP dynamics, Ca2+ signaling, and beta-cell synchronization in pancreatic islets.