Microculture System for Studying Monolayers of Functionalβ-Cells
- 1 April 1980
- journal article
- research article
- Published by The Endocrine Society in Endocrinology
- Vol. 106 (4), 1070-1073
- https://doi.org/10.1210/endo-106-4-1070
Abstract
A method is described for growing monolayers of newborn rat β-cells in microculture trays. After disruption of the pancreas with collagenase, islets were isolated by Ficoll density gradient centrifugation, trypsinized to obtain individual cells, and plated in 96-well tissue culture trays. The cells were incubated for the first 3 days in growth medium containing 0.1 mm 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine to promote monolayer formation. The cultures could be maintained in a functional state, as defined by their responsiveness to known modulators of insulin secretion, for at least 2 weeks. As few as 1 × 103 islet cells/well gave results that were reproducible within ±10%. It is suggested that the microculture system for islet cells might prove to be a rapid and reproducible screening technique for studying drugs, viruses, or other agents that affect β-cell function. (Endocrinology106: 1070, 1980)Keywords
This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Virus-Induced Diabetes MellitusNew England Journal of Medicine, 1979
- Promotion of monolayer formation in cultured whole pancreatic islets by 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1978
- Immunoassay of insulin with insulin-antibody precipitateBiochemical Journal, 1963