Lepr(db) mouse model of type 2 diabetes: pancreatic islet isolation and live-cell 2-photon imaging of intact islets.

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic disease affecting 382 million people in 2013, and is expected to rise to 592 million by 2035 (1). During the past 2 decades, the role of beta-cell dysfunction in type 2 diabetes has been clearly established (2). Research progress has required methods for the isolation of pancreatic islets. The protocol of the islet isolation presented here shares many common steps with protocols from other groups, with some modifications to improve the yield and quality of isolated islets from both the wild type and diabetic Lepr(db) (db/db) mice. A live-cell 2-photon imaging method is then presented that can be used to investigate the control of insulin secretion within islets.