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Updated: Dec 26, 2025
Leprdb Mouse Model of Type 2 Diabetes: Pancreatic Islet Isolation and Live-cell 2-Photon Imaging Of Intact Islets
Published on: May 11, 2015
Assessing Mouse Islet Function
Patricio Atanes1, Inmaculada Ruz-Maldonado1, Oladapo E Olaniru1
1Department of Diabetes, School of Life Course Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
Islets of Langerhans are clusters of endocrine cells embedded within the exocrine pancreas. Islets constitute only approximately 1-2% of the total pancreas mass in all species, so methods have been developed to digest the pancreas and purify islets from the surrounding acinar cells. This chapter provides detailed protocols for isolation of mouse islets and their in vitro functional characterization in terms of assessments of islet viability, hormone content and secretion, second messenger generation and β-cell proliferation.
Islets of Langerhans are clusters of endocrine cells embedded within the exocrine pancreas. Islets constitute only approximately 1-2% of the total pancreas mass in all species, so methods have been developed to digest the pancreas and purify islets from the surrounding acinar cells. This chapter provides detailed protocols for isolation of mouse islets and their in vitro functional characterization in terms of assessments of islet viability, hormone content and secretion, second messenger generation and β-cell proliferation.
