Maitotoxin (MTX) activates a Ca
2؉-dependent non-selective cation current (I Ca-NS ) in insulinoma cells whose time course is identical to non-selective cation currents activated by incretin hormones such as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which stimulate glucose-dependent insulin secretion by activating cAMP signaling pathways. We investigated the mechanism of activation of I Ca-NS in insulinoma cells using specific pharmacological reagents, and these studies further support an identity between MTX-and GLP-1-activated currents. I Ca-NS is inhibited by extracellular application of genistein, econazole, and SKF 96365. This inhibition by genistein suggests that tyrosine phophorylation may play a role in the activation of I Ca-NS . I Ca-NS is not inhibited by incubation of cells in glucose-free solution, by extracellular tetrodotoxin, nimodipine, or tetraethylammonium, or by intracellular dialysis with 4-aminopyridine, ATP, ryanodine, or heparin. I Ca-NS is also not significantly inhibited by staurosporine, which does, however, partially inhibit the MTX-induced rise of intracellular Ca 2؉ concentration. These effects of staurosporine suggest that protein kinase C may not be involved in the activation of I Ca-NS but that it may regulate intracellular Ca 2؉ release. Alternatively, I Ca-NS may have a small component that is carried through separate divalent cationselective channels that are inhibited by staurosporine. I Ca-NS is neither activated nor inhibited by dialysis with KF, KF ؉ AlF 3 or GTP␥S (guanosine 5-O-(3-thiotriphosphate)), suggesting that GTP-binding proteins do not play a major role in the activation of this current.The consensus model of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion is that closure of ATP-sensitive K ϩ channels (K [3][4][5]. One mechanism underlying this increased responsiveness is the enhanced closure of K ϩ ATP channels (2). A second mechanism by which GLP-1, pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP), and cAMP can induce -cell depolarization is through the activation of voltageindependent, non-selective cation currents (6, 7). Similar cation currents are also activated by MTX, a polyether toxin isolated from dinoflagellates that in -cells has been shown to stimulate insulin secretion and inositol trisphosphate (Ins(1,4,5)P 3 ) production (8) and to enhance the influx of monovalent cations (9).MTX-sensitive currents are activated by depletion of intracellular Ca 2ϩ stores (10), and GLP-1 enhances intracellular Ca 2ϩ mobilization through the potentiation of ryanodine-sensitive Ca 2ϩ -induced Ca 2ϩ release in TC3 cells (11,12). Increased cAMP levels stimulate Ca 2ϩ release from secretory granules and reduce mitochondrial Ca 2ϩ uptake in -cells (13, 14). These observations raise the possibility that the activation of non-selective cation currents by PACAP and GLP-1 may be a secondary consequence of glucose-and cAMP-dependent intracellular Ca 2ϩ release. The physiological role of Ca 2ϩ releaseactivated currents in -cells remains controversial, but such currents have been s...