Background

Necrostatin-1 (Nec-1) supplementation to tissue culture media on day 3 has recently been shown to augment the insulin content, endocrine cellular composition, and insulin release of pre-weaned porcine islets (PPIs); however, its effects were only examined for the first 7 days of tissue culture. The present study examined whether the addition of Nec-1 on day 3 could further enhance the in vitro development and function of PPIs after 14 days of tissue culture.

Methods

PPIs were isolated from 8- to 15-day-old, pre-weaned Yorkshire piglets and cultured in an islet maturation media supplemented with Nec-1 on day 3. The recovery, viability, insulin content, endocrine cellular composition, GLUT2 expression in beta cells, differentiation and proliferation potential, and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion of PPIs were assessed on days 3, 7, and 14 of tissue culture (n = 5 on each day).

Results

Compared with day 7 of tissue culture, islets on day 14 had a lower recovery, GLUT2 expression in beta cells, proliferation capacity of endocrine cells, and glucose-induced insulin stimulation index. Prolonging the culture time to 14 days did not affect islet viability, insulin content, proportion of endocrine cells, and differentiation potential.

Conclusion

The growth-inducing effects of Nec-1 on PPIs were most effective on day 7 of tissue culture when added on day 3. Our findings support existing evidence that the in vitro activities of Nec-1 are short-lived and encourage future studies to explore the use of other novel growth factors during prolonged islet tissue culture.