Four-dimensional Super-Resolution imaging in living intact pancreatic islets

Diabetes is a world-wide problem caused by either altered insulin secretion and/or response to insulin in the organism. Insulin is a hormone, specifically produced and secreted by beta-pancreatic cells and regulates the metabolism in the organism. A relatively new treatment for Type-1 Diabetes is pancreatic islet transplantation. Pancreatic islet transplantation stabilises glycaemic control in Type-1 diabetes; notably, Scotland has world-leading expertise in this therapy and a highly successful transplantation programme. Therefore, much fundamental and translational biology remains to be determined.

My PhD aims to study the release of insulin at the level of intracellular granule pools in so-called β-Cells in situ within pancreatic islets, before and after transplant, using mouse models and human donor islets, combined with high-resolution 4-D microscopy and molecular biology. Additionally, I am working on different projects to overcome some challenges in the islet field such as islet immobilization, morphological characterisation using novel dyes and live / dead assays.