Functional integrity of dispersed islet cells attached to a two-dimensional microsupport

Dispersed rat pancreatic islet cells were cultured overnight in the presence of polystyrene two-dimensional microsupports. About 1.7-1.9x10(6) cells attached to the microsupports (832 cm2) were found to display both an insulin content and secretory response to D-glucose and/or theophylline comparable to those otherwise found in cultured free islet cells. It is proposed that advantage could be taken of this approach to study the function of islet cells attached in a standardized number to such two-dimensional microsupports.