[Interleukin-6 gene expression of human fetal islets and its relation to insulin secretion]

The islet from human fetal pancreas was separated by collagenase type V (0.5 mg/ml) and cultured to observe spontaneous secretion of interleukin-6 (IL-6), its relationship to insulin secretion, regulatory effect of IL-6 on insulin secretion of islets and IL-6 gene expression of human fetal islets. IL-6 was secreted by cultured human fetal islets in vitro and paralleled to their insulin secretion. The MH60.BSF2 cell proliferated by 50 folds when cultured to the supernatant of human fetal islets. RNA dot hybridization with bioting-labelled IL-6 cDNA showed that IL-6 gene expressed on human fetal islets. IL-6 promoted the insulin secretion of islets dose-dependently. The results suggested that IL-6 may be one of the promoting or regulating factors in the insulin secretion of islets.