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Technical Report

Nature Medicine 14, 574 - 578 (2008)
Published online: 7 March 2008 | doi:10.1038/nm1701

Noninvasive in vivo imaging of pancreatic islet cell biology

Stephan Speier1,5, Daniel Nyqvist1,4,5, Over Cabrera2, Jia Yu1, R Damaris Molano2, Antonello Pileggi2, Tilo Moede1, Martin Köhler1, Johannes Wilbertz3, Barbara Leibiger1, Camillo Ricordi2, Ingo B Leibiger1, Alejandro Caicedo2 & Per-Olof Berggren1,2

Advanced imaging techniques have become a valuable tool in the study of complex biological processes at the cellular level in biomedical research. Here, we introduce a new technical platform for noninvasive in vivo fluorescence imaging of pancreatic islets using the anterior chamber of the eye as a natural body window. Islets transplanted into the mouse eye engrafted on the iris, became vascularized, retained cellular composition, responded to stimulation and reverted diabetes. Laser-scanning microscopy allowed repetitive in vivo imaging of islet vascularization, beta cell function and death at cellular resolution. Our results thus establish the basis for noninvasive in vivo investigations of complex cellular processes, like beta cell stimulus-response coupling, which can be performed longitudinally under both physiological and pathological conditions.