Pochet R, Pipeleers D G, Malaisse W J
Laboratory of Histology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
Biol Cell. 1987;61(3):155-61. doi: 10.1111/j.1768-322x.1987.tb00582.x.
The presence and abundance of calbindin in rat pancreatic islet cells was assessed by immunohistochemistry of either whole islets or purified B and non-B islet cells, as well as by Western blotting of extracts derived from whole islets and purified B and non-B islet cells. Immunohistochemistry of pancreatic sections indicated a higher calbindin content in non-B cells, located at the periphery of the islets, than in the centrally located insulin-producing B cells. Comparable results were obtained in purified islet cells. Likewise, scanning densitometry of the Western blots indicated that, relative to cell volume, the single calbindin band (Mr 27 kDa) was 5-7 times higher in non-B than in B cells. In the splenic lobe of chick pancreas, however, the opposite situation prevailed. Thus, insulin-producing cells clustered in small roundish islets were more intensely labelled after exposure to anti-calbindin serum than non-B islet cells located in large and irregularly shaped islets. Nevertheless, even in the chick pancreas, non-B islet cells contained an appreciable amount of calbindin.
