Insulin Release and Insulin mRNA Levels in Rat Islets of Langerhans Cultured on Extracellular Matrix

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Abstract
Primary culture of rat islets of Langerhans lose glucose responsiveness and eventually die when cultured for a long period of time. In this study we evaluated the effect of matrigel, a basement membrane extract, on (i) islet cell survival, (ii) cell responsiveness following a glucose challenge, and (iii) mRNA levels for insulin, glu-cagon, and somatostatin. Pancreatic islets were isolated by collagenase digestion and plated in culture dishes either coated or not with a matrigel layer. Using the reverse hemolytic plaque assay, we determined the total number of insulin-secreting cells and the amount of insulin secreted by individual beta cells. After 1 h of exposure to 5 mM glucose, β cells from 6-month-old rat islets cultured for 6 weeks on matrigel showed an equal number of insulin-secreting cells compared to freshly isolated islets cultured for only 3 days in the absence of matrigel (39.5 ± 2.5 vs. 37.1 ± 9.6%). Furthermore, the release of insulin by cells cultured on matrigel for 6 weeks increased in a glucose-dependent manner (p < 0.001) and showed an ED50 of 7 mM. However, the amount of insulin released per single β cell was reduced by 40–60% (p < 0.02) compared to that released from isolated β cells derived from a 3-day culture of islets. Finally, there was a 35–55% increase (p < 0.05) in the levels of insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin mRNAs in cells cultured for 6 weeks on matrigel. These data suggest a trophic effect of matrigel on the maintenance of normal β-cell activity and function and may lead the way to the development of a new model for the study of pancreatic islets in long-term culture.