Islet and Pancreas Analysis Core

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Islet and Pancreas Analysis Core: Project Summary/Abstract The Islet and Pancreas Analysis (IPA) Core was established in 2007 as a result of growing demand for murine islets from Vanderbilt Diabetes Research Center (VDRC) investigators. Over the last funding cycle, the IPA Core provided services to 47 different investigators (40 Vanderbilt and 7 external nonprofit) by assisting with 4,120 procedures. Research programs within the VDRC encompass the fields of pancreatic islet biology, development, and function in normal homeostasis and disease, including a broad spectrum of islet-related processes raging from intracellular signaling, physiological response and adaptation, the immunology of type 1 diabetes, the function of islet-enriched transcription factors, and the maintenance of normal hormone-secreting status and cell fate. Essential to rigorous research in these areas is the ability to robustly isolate murine islets and to assay the complex physiological function of both murine and human islets. Vanderbilt has been a national leader in developing islet functional assays, as evidenced by the selection of the NIDDK-supported Integrated Islet Distribution Program (IIDP) to house the Human Islet Phenotyping Program (HIPP) at Vanderbilt under direction of Marcela Brissova, IPA Core Director. The HIPP's location at Vanderbilt has greatly benefitted VDRC Investigators, allowing newly developed procedures to be seamlessly implemented through the IPA Core. In addition to offering functional assays, the IPA Core also provides VDRC investigators with high-resolution, whole-slide image scanners that enable simultaneous analysis of both tissue architecture and single cell morphology. Numerous VDRC investigators utilize the imaging infrastructure and associated analytical tools, and in this competitive renewal, the IPA Core proposes the addition of multiplex imaging to perform high impact, tissue-based studies. While access to this technology is cost-prohibitive and technically challenging for individual labs, offering it as a core service will significantly enhance the impact of histological analysis of mouse and human tissue. The IPA Core is also working closely with the Animal Metabolic Physiology Core (AMPC) to standardize islet transplantation techniques, a valuable experimental resource that will complement existing ex vivo assays and allow more investigators to perform in vivo studies. Through its centralized resources and expertise, the IPA Core provides VDRC investigators with reliable and standardized procedures that facilitate discoveries related to islet biology, cell signaling, and metabolism. The continued excellence of the IPA Core is crucial to sustain rigorous and impactful work in the areas of pancreas and islet development and physiology by VDRC investigators.