A New Approach for Diabetic Therapeutics : Analysis of influx of extracellular Calcium in association with ascorbic acid on insulin secretion in diabetic MIN6 cell

Diabetes is a worldwide pathology, characterized by a group of syndromes associated with very high levels of blood sugar. Pancreatic -cell maintains the blood glucose homeostasis by secreting insulin. The rise in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration due to extracellular Ca2+ influx through voltage-gated Ca2+ channels is the major trigger which stimulates insulin release and acts as a key regulator for insulin secretion. Ascorbic acid, the most common antioxidant shares structural similarity with glucose and have evidences that supplementation of ascorbic acid relieved various complications of diabetes. MIN6 (Mouse Insulinoma cell line) has been widely used as a -cell specific cell line which shows glucose stimulated insulin secretion qualitatively and quantitatively similar to normal -cells. This study specifically focused on the role of extracellular calcium and ascorbic acid individually as well as in association with each other in repairing, reactivation and rejuvenation of diabetic MIN6 cells first time. This effort sets up a ground work which can be further explored at molecular level and clinical trials, which will be helpful in therapeutics for type II diabetes in future.