Cold storage (8 C) of islets of Langerhans in a high-potassium "intracellular medium": near-normal insulin release and morphology after one week.
Islets of Langerhans from ob/ob mice were microdissected and stored for one week at 8 C or 37 C in a high-potassium "intracellular medium" or in a traditional culture medium (RPMI 1640 +/- fetal calf serum). Subsequent glucose-stimulated insulin release and islet morphology were best preserved by 8 C-storage in the high-potassium "intracellular medium". This suggests that normal, adult, mammalian tissues which do not readily divide in vitro may be better preserved for short periods of time at refrigerator temperatures in a high-potassium medium than by conventional culture at 37 C in a tissue culture medium.
D000818:Animals; D003080:Cold Temperature; D003470:Culture Media; D046508:Culture Techniques; D005260:Female; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism*; D000078790:Insulin Secretion; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008820:Mice, Obese; D011188:Potassium; D014021:Tissue Preservation / Q000379:methods*
D003470:Culture Media; D007328:Insulin; D011188:Potassium