Assessing Mouse Islet Function

Islets of Langerhans are clusters of endocrine cells embedded within the exocrine pancreas. Islets constitute only approximately 1-2% of the total pancreas mass in all species, so methods have been developed to digest the pancreas and purify islets from the surrounding acinar cells. This chapter provides detailed protocols for isolation of mouse islets and their in vitro functional characterization in terms of assessments of islet viability, hormone content and secretion, second messenger generation and beta-cell proliferation.