Sialidase cleaves sialic acid residues from a sialoglycoconjugate: oligosaccharides, glycolipids and glycoproteins that contain sialic acid. Histochemical imaging of the mouse pancreas using a benzothiazolylphenol-based sialic acid derivative (BTP3-Neu5Ac), a highly sensitive histochemical imaging probe used to assess sialidase activity, showed that pancreatic islets have intense sialidase activity. The sialidase inhibitor 2,3-dehydro-2-deoxy-N-acetylneuraminic acid (DANA) remarkably enhances glutamate release from hippocampal neurons. Since there are many similar processes between synaptic vesicle exocytosis and secretory granule exocytosis, we investigated the effect of DANA on insulin release from β-cells. Insulin release was induced in INS-1D cells by treatment with 8.3 mM glucose, and the release was enhanced by treatment with DANA. In a mouse intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test, the increase in serum insulin levels was enhanced by intravenous injection with DANA. However, under fasting conditions, insulin release was not enhanced by treatment with DANA. Calcium oscillations induced by 8.3 mM glucose treatment of INS-1D cells were not affected by DANA. Blood insulin levels in sialidase isozyme Neu3-deficient mice were significantly higher than those in WT mice under ad libitum feeding conditions, but the levels were not different under fasting conditions. These results indicate that DANA is a glucose-dependent potentiator of insulin secretion. The sialidase inhibitor may be useful for anti-diabetic treatment with a low risk of hypoglycemia. Sialidase is a hydrolase that removes sialic acid from a sialoglycoconjugate. Mammalian sialidase has four isozymes: Neu1, Neu2, Neu3 and Neu4. These four isozymes have differences in the tissues where they are expressed, their subcellular locations, their substrate specificity and their pH dependency 1. It has been proposed that sialidase contributes to the regulation of insulin signalling and sensitivity. Neu1, a lysosomal sialidase, regulates insulin signalling for energy metabolism and glucose uptake 2. Neu3, a plasma membrane-associated sialidase, is associated with tissue-specific insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance 3-5. Transgenic mice overexpressing Neu3 mainly in muscles developed severe insulin-resistant diabetes mellitus associated with hyperinsulinemia, islet hyperplasia and increased β-cell mass 5. Hepatic Neu3 overexpression, however, improves insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance and is associated with changes in ganglioside composition and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma signalling 4. Recently, we reported that sialidase downregulates glutamate release from neurons 6. Since sialidase activity increases rapidly in response to neural excitation, sialidase is thought to play a role in the negative-feedback mechanism for glutamate release 7. In an effort to understand how sialidase might regulate synaptic transmission,