Inducing and measuring apoptotic cell death in mouse pancreatic ß-cells and in isolated islets.

ABSTRACT

Type 2 diabetes is mediated by insulin resistance and pancreatic ß-cell failure, the latter reflecting a combination of ß-cell dysfunction, dedifferentiation, and apoptosis. Quantification of ß-cell apoptosis in diabetes can be challenging both with respect to methodology and selection of clinically relevant inducers and readouts. This protocol describes approaches to measure cell death in immortalized ß-cells, primary mouse islet preparations, and pancreatic tissue. The resulting information may be useful for mechanistic studies and assessment of the contribution of ß-cell death to pathogenesis. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to McKimpson et al. (2021).