Mammalian -cells are acutely and chronically regulated by sensing surrounding glucose levels that determine the rate at which insulin is secreted, to maintain euglycemia. Experimental research in vitro and in vivo has shown that, when these cells are exposed to adverse conditions like long periods of hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia, their capability to sense glucose is decreased. Understanding the normal physiology and identifying the main players along this route becomes paramount. In this review, we have taken on the task of looking at the role that ion channels play in the regulation of this process, delineating the different families, and describing the signaling that parallels the glucose sensing process that results in insulin release. transient receptor potential; sodium current; calcium current; insulin secretion; insulin secretion coupling PANCREATIC -CELLS secrete insulin in response to a "sensing" mechanism triggered by an increase in extracellular glucose from basal levels. Stimulation-secretion coupling in -cells is different from other cell types because instead of being mediated by receptor binding, glucose needs to be transported into the cytoplasm and metabolized to stimulate exocytosis. Previous reviews (76, 51) have divided the glucose-sensing apparatus into proximal metabolic and distal ionic apparatus. The proximal component includes glucose transport through a specific transporter on the -cell membrane (GLUT1 for humans, GLUT2 for rodents) followed by the glycolytic pathway, which results in an increase in the ATP/ADP ratio that triggers the distal component comprising a cascade of electrochemical events that culminate in an increase in intracellular calcium ([Ca 2ϩ ] i ) and stimulation of insulin secretion. This process can be augmented by several enteroinsular hormones [glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), and CCK] and neurotransmitters like acetylcholine, which amplify the secretory response through the activation of adenylate cyclase or phospholipase C.During fasting, basal glucose levels are ϳ5-6 mM, and the -cell membrane is polarized at resting potential. Dean and Matthews (17,18), almost four decades ago, were the first to show that when glucose rises voltage across the membrane oscillates, generating electrical activity leading to an increase in [Ca 2ϩ ] i and subsequent insulin secretion. This activity consists of an initial slow membrane depolarization, followed by a fast depolarization and subsequent plateau level on which bursts of action potentials are superimposed to finally repolarize the plasma membrane, which returns to its initial polarized state at resting potential. This oscillating process regenerates as long as the glucose concentration is elevated and results from the activity of ion channels localized to the -cell plasma membrane. Insulin is an anabolic hormone, essential for the maintenance of glucose homeostasis, because, among other effects, insulin increases glucose uptake in many cell types to promote nu...