Effects of exenatide on glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and INS-1 cell death caused by thapsigargin-induced ER-stress.

<p>(A) INS-1 cells were stimulated by exenatide at 11.1 mM glucose for insulin secretion. (B) Serum-deprived INS-1 cells were treated 0.3 μM thapsigargin in the absence or presence of various concentrations of exenatide for 6 h. At the end of experiment, cellular viability was assessed by determining intracellular ATP levels. (C) After 6 h treatment, cellular caspase-3/7 activity was determined as a sensitive apoptotic marker. (D) Caspase-3/7 activity was determined according to the treatment time of 0.3 μM thapsigargin in the absence or presence of 10 nM exenatide. ***<i>p</i>< 0.001 vs. untreated control by Bonferroni’s t-test. Each experiment was run in triplicate.