Microculture System for Studying Monolayers of Functional β-Cells

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. (Endocrinology 106: 1070, 1980)