Morphological analysis of isolated rat pancreatic islets cultured under standard culture technique and with biopolymer microstructured collagen‑containing hydrogel

Abstract

Introduction. Extracellular matrix play an essential role in providing structural integrity and physiological support to Langerhans islets in pancreas. Imitation of the native microenvironment can be useful for viability of isolated pancreatic islets in vitro and in vivo. Aim. The purpose of this study was to characterize and compare the effect of biopolymer microstructured collagen-containing hydrogel (BMCH) on isolated rat islets survival. Materials and methods. Islets were isolated by classic collagenase techniques with some modifications. There were used hystological, immunofluorescence and immunohystochemistry methods. Results. Rat islets cultured with collagen-based gel don’t revealed destructive changes of structure and remained viabile 7 days incubation. Conclusion. Positive effect of BMCH to rat islet survival was revealed.

Keywords

• langerhans islets
• pancreas
• extracellular matrix
• culture
• collagen-containing hydrogel