PS13 - 65. Correlated microscopy and nanotomy to analyze complete cross sections of Islets of Langerhans in Type I diabetes

Understanding etiology of diabetes and finding alternatives for insulin therapy in Type I diabetic patients demands a full understanding of the Islets of Langerhans. Electron microscopic (EM) imaging of islets is a powerful method to analyze islet composition, cellular interactions, hormone content and physiological condition in a single analysis. However, single high-resolution images of complete islets can not be made. Our aim is to create high-resolution EM-maps of cross-sections of islets and share this data in a Google-earth like approach. This will allow examination of important tissue, cellular and (macro)molecular characteristics of Islets between man and animal models in health and disease.