Role of Complexin 2 in the regulation of hormone secretion from the islet of Langerhans

Regulated secretion of insulin from β-cells, glucagon from α-cells, and somatostatin from δ-cells is necessary for the maintenance of glucose homeostasis. The release of these hormones from pancreatic islet cells requires the assembly and disassembly of the SNARE protein complex to control vesicle fusion and exocytosis. Complexin 2 (Cplx 2) is a small soluble synaptic protein that participates in the priming and release steps of vesicle fusion. It plays a dual role as a molecular switch that first clamps and prevents fusion pore opening, and subsequently undergoes a conformational change upon Ca ²⁺ binding to synaptotagmin to facilitate exocytosis. Using a Cplx 2 knockout (KO) mouse model, we show a direct inhibitory role of Cplx 2 for glucagon and somatostatin secretion, along with an indirect role in the paracrine inhibition of insulin secretion by somatostatin. Deletion of Cplx 2 increases glucagon and somatostatin secretion from intact mouse islets, while there is no difference in insulin secretion between WT and Cplx 2 KO islets. The normal paracrine inhibition of insulin secretion by somatostatin is disrupted in Cplx 2 KO islets. On the contrary, deletion of Cplx 2 did not affect the known role of somatostatin in the paracrine inhibition of glucagon at elevated glucose levels, since the paracrine inhibition of glucagon secretion by somatostatin is similar for both WT and Cplx 2 KO islets. In both β- and α-cells, the secretion profiles are parallel to Ca ²⁺ activity changes following somatostatin treatment of WT and Cplx 2 KO islets. The loss of paracrine inhibition of insulin secretion is substantiated by direct measurements of insulin vesicle fusion events in Cplx 2 KO islets. Together, these data show a differential role for Cplx 2 in regulating hormone secretion from pancreatic islets.