Pancreatic islet transplantation in mice

Millions of people in the U.S. suffer from type 1 diabetes (T1D), an autoimmune disorder resulting from T cell-mediated destruction of the insulin producing islet cells in the pancreas. Approaches aimed at replacing the destroyed islet cells, such as transplantation of allogeneic islets or in vitro-generated insulin producing cells, may eventually serve as a cure for T1D. However, there are several major barriers that preclude the success of β cell replacement therapies including: impaired islet or cell function upon transplantation, insufficient number of islet donors or inefficiency in generating new insulin producing cells, and sustained immune attacks against the grafts. Continuing research in murine models is required to characterize and conquer the above barriers prior to the clinical use of islet or insulin producing cell transplantation. Herein, we describe a commonly used technique of murine islet cell transplantation. Based on this model, scientific insights will be gained for improving the therapeutic effects of β cell replacement by selecting novel immune interventions, different mutated murine recipients, and various manipulated islets or cells for transplantation.