Dr. Michael Roper of Florida State University

Professor Michael Roper of Flordia State University will present

"Analytical Methods for Investigating Dynamic Behavior of Pancreatic Cells"  

on September 5, 2018 at 4:10pm in Neville Hall, Room 3

Islets of Langerhans are the endocrine portion of the pancreas responsible for maintaining glucose homeostasis via the regulated secretion of numerous hormones, most notably insulin and glucagon. Defects in the secretion of these hormones are associated with a number of metabolic diseases, including diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. The ability to measure these glucose-regulating peptides with high time resolution and sensitivity is necessary to fully resolve the secretion dynamics of these factors and to understand how they change at various disease stages.

In this talk, a number of analytical strategies our group has developed will be discussed which enable monitoring of secretion with high time resolution. These assays include multi-color electrophoretic affinity assays for simultaneous measurement of up to three glucose-regulating peptides, and a non-competitive aptamer-based affinity assay for glucagon and amylin. A number of these assays have been integrated into microfluidic systems to enable monitoring of secretions as a function of time. Select applications of these devices will also be discussed including the examination of acute and chronic incubation of an anti-diabetic lipid on insulin release, and the coordination of hormone oscillations by groups of islets.