Interaction of sulfonylurea-conjugated polymer with insulinoma cell line of MIN6 and its effect on insulin secretion

A carboxylated derivative of sulfonylurea (SU), an insulinotropic agent, was synthesized and grafted onto a water-soluble polymer as a biospecific and stimulating polymer for insulin secretion. To evaluate the effect of the SU-conjugated polymer on insulin secretion, its solution in dimethyl sulfoxide was added to the culture of insulinoma cell line of MIN6 cells to make 10 nM of SU units in the medium and incubated for 3 h at 37 degrees C. The culture medium was conditioned with glucose concentration of 3.3 or 25 mM. To verify the specific interaction between the SU (K+ channel closer)-conjugated polymer and MIN6 cells, the cells were pretreated with diazoxide, an agonist of adenosine triphosphate-sensitive K+ channel (K+ channel opener), before adding the SU-conjugated polymer to the cell culture medium. This treatment suppressed the action of SUs on MIN6 cells. Fluorescence-labeled polymer with rodamine-B isothiocyanate was used to visualize the interactions, and we found that the labeled polymer strongly absorbed to MIN6 cells, probably owing to its specific interaction mediated by SU receptors on the cell membrane. The fluorescence intensity on the cells significantly increased with an increase in incubation time and polymer concentration. A confocal laser microscopic study further confirmed this interaction. The results from this study provided evidence that SU-conjugated copolymer stimulates insulin secretion by specific interactions of SU moieties in the polymer with MIN6 cells.