The establishment of hybrid cell lines from human pancreas

Abstract

The need for research into diabetes mellitus is ever increasing. Of specific interest are the mechanisms responsible for glucose-responsive insulin secretion and the autoimmune destruction of pancreatic p-cells. However, assessment of normal pancreatic P cell function at the molecular level continues to be hampered by the heterogeneity and limited yields of viable human experimental material. Pancreatic P cell lines have proven extremely useful in overcoming sonnie of these problems, and thus the potential usefulness of a human pancreatic P cell line has long been recognised. At the onset of this project no functional human P cell line had been established, despite repeated attempts. It is only in the last year that such a cell line has at last been generated. Of all the reported attempts to establish a human P cell line, or a P cell line exhibiting human characteristics, none had employed the strategy of a cell fusion involving normal human P cells.