Whereas the loss of ATP-sensitive K؉ channel (K ATP channel) activity in human pancreatic -cells causes severe hypoglycemia in certain forms of hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia, similar channel loss in sulfonylurea receptor-1 (SUR1) and Kir6.2 null mice yields a milder phenotype that is characterized by normoglycemia, unless the animals are stressed. While investigating potential compensatory mechanisms, we found that incretins, specifically glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucosedependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP), can increase the cAMP content of Sur1KO islets but do not potentiate glucose-stimulated insulin release. This impairment is secondary to a restriction in the ability of Sur1KO I nsulin secretion is a unique example of exocytosis controlled by metabolic, ionic, and hormonal pathways. An imbalance in insulin release due to disruption of these pathways can produce the profound changes in glucose homeostasis associated with either hyperglycemia (diabetes) or hypoglycemia (e.g., hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia [HI]). In pancreatic -cells, ATPsensitive K ϩ channels (K ATP channels), composed of Kir6.2 and the sulfonylurea receptor-1 (SUR1), and voltage-gated Ca 2ϩ channels are key players linking increased glucose metabolism to elevation of cytosolic Ca 2ϩ concentration ([Ca 2ϩ ] i ). Membrane depolarization induced by closure of K ATP channels, secondary to changes in ADP/ ATP resulting from glucose metabolism, leads to the generation of Ca 2ϩ -dependent action potentials and [Ca 2ϩ ] i oscillations, which are considered to be a major mediator of insulin secretion. Sulfonylureas that block -cell K ATP channels are commonly used to restore insulin secretion in type 2 diabetes. The loss or constitutive closure of -cell K ATP channels, as a result of mutations in either subunit, is a cause of both dominant and recessive forms of HI (HI-SUR1 or HI-Kir6.2), characterized by elevated plasma insulin values inconsistent with the observed hypoglycemia (reviewed in 1,2). Studies on islets isolated from patients diagnosed with HI are consistent with hypersecretion of insulin (3,4). By comparison, the clinical phenotype of mice lacking -cell/neuronal K ATP channels is strikingly normal. Kir6.2 null (Kir6.2KO) (5) and Sur1KO (6) mice are normoglycemic when fed, displaying only mild glucose intolerance, consistent with their loss of first phase and attenuated second phase of insulin release. Sur1KO mice exhibit greater hypoglycemia upon fasting, consistent with their inability to rapidly repolarize their -cells and reduce insulin release (6). No compensating ionic mechanisms have been identified, and the electrophysiological phenotype of isolated K ATP KO mouse -cells, i.e., constant membrane depolarization, presence of Ca 2ϩ -dependent action potentials, and elevated oscillating [Ca 2ϩ ] i in low glucose, is quite similar to that of -cells from HI neonates (compare 5-7); therefore, it is unclear why K ATP KO islets lack the elevated basal insulin release observed in HI islets (3,4).In a search for dif...