Islet Perifusion

The islet perifusion apparatus is a low-pressure liquid chromatography system that we built in-house from commercially available components. The system consists of two channels where islets are placed into a 1-mL glass column. Each channel is operated independently by a high-precision peristaltic pump. Perifusion media and islet chambers are maintained and stabilized. This system configuration allows us to acquire dynamic hormone secretory profile simultaneously from a set of islets with 1-2 secretagogues per each channel. Perifusate is collected by fraction collectors and samples are then assayed for insulin, or glucagon concentration. End-users receive complete experimental record with raw data, data analysis and graphical representation of each perifusion experiment.