Long-term cultured neonatal porcine islet cell monolayers: a potential tissue source for transplant in diabetes.
BACKGROUND
The restricted availability of cadaveric human donor pancreases mandates validation of possibly inexhaustible, alternative sources of insulin secretory cells in order to expand islet transplant for the therapy of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (T1DM).


METHODS
Neonatal pig pancreatic islets (NPI), isolated and purified by our method, were specially cultured until confluent cell monolayers were obtained. Expression of several beta-cell phenotype transcriptional factors, under glucose and other stimuli, were examined throughout 90 days of culture.


RESULTS
High glucose concentration and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) were associated with maintenance either of insulin secretory patterns from the incubated cell monolayers, or expression of transcriptional markers associated with beta-cell like phenotypes.


CONCLUSIONS
Morphological and molecular expression of beta-cell markers and products from NPI cell monolayers seem to identify a novel and potentially powerful source of insulin producing cells that might fulfill transplant needs for insulin substitution therapy.
Mancuso
Francesca
F
Department of Internal Medicine (Di.M.I.), University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
Basta
Giuseppe
G
Calvitti
Mario
M
Luca
Giovanni
G
Guido
Lucia
L
Racanicchi
Leda
L
Montanucci
Pia
P
Becchetti
Ennio
E
Calafiore
Riccardo
R
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D015415:Biomarkers; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002469:Cell Separation; D002478:Cells, Cultured / Q000637:transplantation*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000601:surgery; D007328:Insulin / Q000096:biosynthesis; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D016381:Islets of Langerhans Transplantation; D034421:Sus scrofa
D015415:Biomarkers; D007328:Insulin