With an experienced team of scientists and an advanced technology platform, Ace Therapeutics provides various pancreatic islet cell line models based on customer's needs to advance β-cell biology and diabetes drug discovery.
Type 2 diabetes is characterized by inadequate insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cells. To develop effective drugs and treatments, it is crucial to understand the physiological processes that control insulin production and release. Primary β-cells are limited in availability, so researchers commonly use immortalized rodent β-cell lines like RIN1, HIT2, βTC3, INS-16, MIN64, NIT-15, and βHC cells to study these processes. These cell lines have many similarities in functional characteristics with normal pancreatic β-cells, as well as advantages such as controllability, uniformity, ease of observation and detection, and relatively low cost, making them important tools for biological research.
Fig. 1. MIN6-CB4 cells with elevated and reduced expression of the Gcg gene were produced. (Miyazaki S, et al., 2021)
At Ace Therapeutics, our researchers can establish various pancreatic β-cell lines through methods such as UV irradiation and virus transfection. These cell lines maintain many key functional characteristics of normal pancreatic islets, such as high insulin content, insulin synthesis and secretion, and regulation of insulin gene expression under physiological stimuli. Additionally these cell lines exhibit significant variations in insulin secretion levels and their response to glucose and other substances that stimulate insulin release. Customers can choose suitable cell lines according to their research needs.
| Cell Lines | Applications | Advantages |
| RIN cell lines (RIN-m5F, INS-1) | Research on β cell growth, survival factors, cytotoxicity, and cell function | Relatively stable phenotype with high purity and reproducibility. |
| HIT cell lines (HIT-T15) | Biochemical research on the secretion system | Preserve the essence of normal insulin secretion and have a lower threshold for response to glucose and other secretagogues. |
| MIN cell lines (MIN6) | In-depth research on the mechanism and gene level regulation of insulin secretion in β cells | Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) and response curves are similar to normal pancreatic islet cells. |
| NIT cell lines (NIT-1) | Research on the immune function of β cells | Stable secretion of insulin function. |
| βTC cell lines | Research on the JNK signaling pathway, cellular function, and pharmacological evaluation | Maintain differentiation for about 50 generations and effectively secrete insulin. |
| βHC cell lines | Study on GSIS mechanism, Type 1 diabetes autoimmune antibody and β-cell autoimmune injury | Preservation of normal GSIS ability and the complete glucose signaling pathway. |
| βTC-tet cell lines | Same as βHC lines | Maintain normal GSIS response for over 60 generations. |
We also provide customized services to optimize cellular function by genetically engineering existing cell lines or screening stable, differentiated, and fully functional cell lines from existing ones. We offer the following characterization services for customized cell lines:
For additional information about how our services can be customized to meet your exact needs, please contact us. Our experience and expertise in diabetes can provide you with customized research solutions!
Ace Therapeutics has a team of experts in the field of endocrine and metabolic research, aiming to provide innovative preclinical contract research solutions to cope with diabetes and its complications. We provide customized solutions and technical support, enabling the transformation of promising concepts into innovative treatments, thus accelerating the drug development process of diabetes.
