Tadahiro Kitamura

Editor’s summary Abstract Supplementary Materials REFERENCES AND NOTES Information & Authors Metrics & Citations Check Access References Figures Tables Media Share Editor’s summary Eating induces the release of insulin from the pancreas through cholinergic signaling mediated by vagal innervation of the pancreas. Using mice in which the activity of the vagal nerve could be manipulated, Hashiuchi et al. determined how insulin release was affected by obesity.

Glucagon, a hormone secreted from pancreatic α cells, plays important roles in regulating glucose, amino acid, and lipid metabolism and is implicated in the pathophysiology of metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, obesity, and fatty liver. Thus, elucidation of the signaling pathways in α cells is essential for the development of new classes of therapeutic drugs targeting glucagon.