Traveling chimeras and collective coordination in β-cell networks

Pancreatic β-cells play a central role in maintaining glucose homeostasis through the pulsatile secretion of insulin. This essential function relies not only on intracellular regulatory mechanisms but also on coordinated interactions among β-cells within the islets of Langerhans. Disruptions in this intercellular coordination are increasingly implicated in metabolic disorders such as type II diabetes. In this work, we employ a computational framework to investigate the collective dynamics of a network of coupled β-cells interacting through a nonlocally coupled ring topology that incorporates both electrical and metabolic coupling pathways. This topology provides an idealized representation of short- and longer-range interactions and allows their dynamical consequences to be studied systematically. Numerical simulations reveal a variety of emergent behaviors, including synchronization, traveling waves, and traveling chimera states, in which coherent and incoherent domains coexist and propagate across the network. These findings provide new insights into the mechanisms governing coordinated β-cell activity and the regulation of pulsatile insulin secretion. By clarifying how coupling structure and intercellular communication shape islet-wide dynamics, this work contributes to a deeper understanding of the dysfunctions underlying diabetes.