A culture method for the isolation of pancreatic islet cells from young rats

Following digestion of a single pancreas from 30- to 50-day-old Sprague Dawley rats, many single cells and small cell clusters were obtained. Over a succeeding 5-day interval in tissue culture, many islet-like cell clusters were noted. They were smaller than isolated intact rat islets and appeared to develop from selective aggregation of islet cells. More than 1,000 of these islet-like clusters were obtained from a single pancreas. The physiologic characteristics of these cells indicated preservation of insulin secretory responses to glucose (30, 50, 100, 150, 200, and 300 mg/dl), theophylline (1.5 mM), and arginine (10 mM). This appears to be a useful method to follow when large quantities of islet cells are required, as for transplantation.