Abstract
Insufficient insulin secretion is a key component of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Since insulin is released by the islets of Langerhans, obtaining viable and functional islets is critical for research and transplantation. The effective and efficient isolation of these small islands of endocrine cells from the sea of exocrine tissue that is the rest of the pancreas is not necessarily simple or quick. Choosing and administering the digestive enzyme, separation of the islets from acinar tissue, and culture of islets are all things that must be considered. The purpose of this review is to provide a history of the development of islet isolation procedures and to serve as a practical guide to rodent islet research for newcomers to islet biology. We discuss key elements of mouse islet isolation including choosing collagenase, the digestion process, purification of islets using a density gradient, and islet culture conditions. In addition, this paper reviews techniques for assessing islet viability and function such as visual assessment, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and intracellular calcium measurements. A detailed protocol is provided that describes a common method our laboratory uses to obtain viable and functional mouse islets for in vitro study. This review thus provides a strong foundation for successful procurement and purification of high-quality mouse islets for research purposes.
Highlights
[1] Paul Langerhans quietly announced to the medical community the discovery of what would later become known as the “islets of Langerhans”
It was hypothesized that the exocrine tissue would impair the vitality and function of the endocrine pancreas [5, 6]
We have addressed the key factors to consider in both the isolation and assessment processes to obtain healthy islets
Summary
In early 1869, with his mention of “small cells of almost perfect homogeneous content, and of perfect polygonal form ... lying together in twos or in small groups,” [1] Paul Langerhans quietly announced to the medical community the discovery of what would later become known as the “islets of Langerhans”. Lying together in twos or in small groups,” [1] Paul Langerhans quietly announced to the medical community the discovery of what would later become known as the “islets of Langerhans”. This announcement would set in motion the groundwork for successfully treating diabetes mellitus [2, 3]. Ssobolew suggested that the separation of the exocrine pancreas from the endocrine would increase islet viability and improve success in transplantation procedures [5, 6]. These three techniques were pulled together in 1985 by Gotoh et al [12] and truly opened the way for islet transplantation and in-depth study of islets
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
