Epoxypukalide Induces Proliferation and Protects against Cytokine-Mediated Apoptosis in Primary Cultures of Pancreatic β-Cells
Figure 2
Epoxypukalyde induces β-cell proliferation in primary rat islets.
Primary cultures of rat islets were treated with 0.1 µM epoxypukalide, pukalide, leptolide, (Z)-deoxypukalide or vehicle (Ø) for 24 h. Cell proliferation was measured by [3H]thymidine incorporation as described in Methods section (N = 6 in triplicate) (*p<0.05) (A). Dose-dependence experiments to test epoxypukalide effectiveness in cell proliferation in rat islets (N = 6–12 in triplicate). Proliferation was measured by [3H]thymidine incorporation (B). Representative pictures of primary islet cell cultures treated with 0.1 µM epoxypukalide for 24 h, sections were stained for insulin (green) and BrdU (red). Arrows indicate BrdU-positive β-cells (C). Quantification of the percentage of BrdU-positive β-cells (N = 6) (*p<0.05) (D).