Serum from normal blood-donors and juvenile diabetic patients inhibited Rb+ accumulation and stimulated release of 51Cr and insulin in suspensions of dispersed pancreatic islet cells prepared from ob/ob mouse islets, which are rich in B-cells. The effects indicate the presence of a B-cytotoxic factor in human serum. Serum from mouse and fetal calf also inhibited the islet cell accumulation of Rb+.

The surface structure of isolated viable β-cells was studied by scanning electron microscopy. Suspensions of islet cells were prepared from the β-cell-rich islets of the ob/ob mouse. Cells incubated with and without D-glucose were fixed while in suspensions, filtered onto Nucleopore filters and prepared for scanning electron microscopy by the critical point drying procedure. After incubation in gl

Hydrolysis of p nitrophenyl phosphate was measured in a fraction enriched in plasma membranes from pancreatic islets of non inbred ob/ob mice. Hydrolysis was stimulated by K+ (10mM) in the pH range 5-10; a small peak of K+ induced activation was observed between pH 7.5 and 8. Both the K+ induced activation and the hydrolysis in the absence of K+ were Mg2+ dependent; maximum activation was obtained

Exposing micro-dissected pancreatic islets of non-inbred ob/ob mice to 2-5 mM-alloxan for 10 min decreased the ability of the islets to accumulate Rb+. Rb+ accumulation in pieces of exocrine pancreas was unaffected by alloxan. When islets were treated with alloxan in the presence of 2-20 mM-D-glucose, the Rb+-accumulating ability was protected in a dose-dependent manner. The protective action of D

Charge transfer (CT) at avoided crossings of excited ionized states of argon dimers is observed using a two-color pump-probe experiment at the free-electron laser in Hamburg (FLASH). The process is initiated by the absorption of three 27-eV-photons from the pump pulse, which leads to the population of Ar2+*-Ar states. Due to nonadiabatic coupling between these one-site doubly ionized states and tw

Suspensions of islet cells were prepared by shaking pancreatic islets from non inbred ob/ob mice in a Ca 2+ free buffer. The cells were incubated with or without 20 mM alloxan, and subsequently with Trypan Blue. The uptake of Trypan Blue by cell nuclei was analysed by microscope photometry and by counting the frequency of cells appearing stained on visual inspection. Cells classified as stained o

The effects of N iodoacetyl 2 amino 2 deoxy (D) glucose and various N bromoacetylglycosylamines on the release of insulin from microdissected pancreatic islets of non inbred ob/ob mice were studied. N Bromoacetyl β (D) glucosylamine (10 m(M)) initiated insulin release in the absence of (D) glucose and, at concentrations of 2.5-10 m(M), but not 20 m(M), potentiated insulin release in response to 10

Methods have been developed for the isolation on a semi-micro scale of a plasma membrane-enriched fraction from rat islets of Langerhans. An important feature of these experiments is the use of 125I-labeled wheat germ agglutinin as a specific probe for plasma membrane-containing fractions. The partly purified plasma membrane fraction had a density in sucrose of about 1.10 and was enriched in the a

The overall dynamics of glucose-induced insulin release was strikingly similar in dispersed cells and intact islets perifused in parallel. Both preparations exhibited a latency of 1-2 min, after which period there was a brisk rise of insulin release followed by a sustained second phase. During the second phase, insulin release from dispersed cells attained a stable plateau rate, whereas the releas

Pancreatic islets rich in beta-cells were isolated from non-inbred ob/ob-mice and used for studying various aspects of the function of the plasma membrane. A review is given of the authors' work along the following lines: the role of transmembrane transport or membrane binding in the recognition of insulin-releasing sugars, amino acids, sulfonylureas, and sulphydryl-blocking agents; the role of cy

The effects of thiol compounds on insulin release were studied in microdissected pancreatic islets of non-inbred ob/ob mice. In control experiments the reactivity of thiols against 6,6′-dithiodinicotinic acid and the degradation of mouse insulin were measured. At a concentration of 0.1 mM, 1-thio-D-glucose or reduced glutathione potentiated the insulin-releasing action of 10 mM D-glucose without a

Six previously pancreatectomized dogs were transplanted with ductligated, pancreatic allografts. Glucagon and insulin levels in the venous outflow from the graft and in the systemic circulation were determined during the first 60 minutes after transplantation. Two of the dogs were subjected to L-arginine stimulation 5 days after transplantation and the glucagon levels in the venous outflow from th

Suspensions of dispersed islet cells were prepared by shaking collagenaseisolated pancreatic islets of ob ob-mice in Ca2+-free buffer. The dispersed cells exhibited a glucose uptake with stereospecificity for the d isomer and concentrated Rb+ about 30-fold from a medium containing 70 μm RbCl. These results compare well with previous observations on unbroken islets and indicate that the dispersion

Insulin release and the content of cAMP were studied in microdissected pancreatic islets of non inbred ob/ob (obese) mice. In the absence of 3 isobutyl 1 methylxanthine, a phosphodiesterase inhibitor, 20 mM glucose had no effect on cAMP save a very small initial rise detectable by a freeze stop perifusion technique only. However, combined with this methylxanthine, 20 mM glucose produced significan