Reporter islets in the eye reveal the plasticity of the endocrine pancreas

The islets of Langerhans constitute the endocrine part of the pancreas and are responsible for maintenance of blood glucose homeostasis. They are deeply embedded in the exocrine pancreas, limiting their accessibility for functional studies. Understanding regulation of function and survival and asses...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2013-12, Vol.110 (51), p.20581-20586
Main Authors: Ilegems, Erwin, Dicker, Andrea, Speier, Stephan, Sharma, Aarti, Bahow, Alan, Edlund, Patrick Karlsson, Leibiger, Ingo B., Berggren, Per-Olof
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Allografts
Animals
Anterior chamber
Beta cells
Biological Sciences
Blood vessels
Body weight
Diabetes
Eye - cytology
Eye - metabolism
Eyes
Female
Glucose
Homeostasis
Imaging
Insulin
Islets of Langerhans
Islets of Langerhans - cytology
Islets of Langerhans - metabolism
Islets of Langerhans Transplantation
Leptin - genetics
Leptin - metabolism
Medicin och hälsovetenskap
Mice
Mice, Obese
Pancreas
Rodents
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Summary:The islets of Langerhans constitute the endocrine part of the pancreas and are responsible for maintenance of blood glucose homeostasis. They are deeply embedded in the exocrine pancreas, limiting their accessibility for functional studies. Understanding regulation of function and survival and assessing the clinical outcomes of individual treatment strategies for diabetes requires a monitoring system that continuously reports on the endocrine pancreas. We describe the application of a natural body window that successfully reports on the properties of in situ pancreatic islets. As proof of principle, we transplanted “reporter islets” into the anterior chamber of the eye of leptin-deficient mice. These islets displayed obesity-induced growth and vascularization patterns that were reversed by leptin treatment. Hence, reporter islets serve as optically accessible indicators of islet function in the pancreas, and also reflect the efficacy of specific treatment regimens aimed at regulating islet plasticity in vivo.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1313696110