Abstract
Pancreatic β-cells in the islets of Langerhans secrete insulin in response to the rise in glucose levels following food intake. The hypoglycemic action of insulin applies a strong evolutionary brake on β-cell division. However, under some conditions β-cells can be stimulated to enter cell cycle progression and divide, for example following exposure to increased glucose levels or during pregnancy. Here, a protocol is described for the isolation of rat adult islets of Langerhans, followed by culture of intact islets in Matrigel and measurement of β-cell replication by the incorporation of ethynyldeoxyuridine (EdU). EdU positive cells are revealed by a click reaction, nuclei are visualized using a DNA-binding fluorophore (Hoechst 33342), and β-cells are identified using immunofluorescence detection.
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Dalgaard, L.T. (2019). Assessment of β-Cell Replication in Isolated Rat Islets of Langerhans. In: Joglekar, M., Hardikar, A. (eds) Progenitor Cells. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2029. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9631-5_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9631-5_3
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