Pancreatic beta cells are responsible for the synthesis, storage, and release of the hormone insulin, which is essential to maintaining glucose homeostasis. One hundred years after the discovery of insulin, our understanding of beta-cell biology is far from complete. Beta-cell dysfunction is a central component of diabetes pathophysiology, and as diabetes prevalence increases in parallel to obesity, new therapeutic targets, and prevention strategies that focus on beta cells, are sought after.

Beta-cell research is a rapidly evolving field, and recent methodological breakthroughs are allowing us to understand different aspects of beta-cell biology. This includes single-cell studies documenting the transcriptional and functional heterogeneity of beta cells, or even the generation of glucose-responsive insulin-secreting cells from pluripotent stem cells.

This collection aims to include protocols used in beta cell research, such as techniques that explore beta cell biology in vivo, but also methods that rely on isolated pancreatic islets for ex vivo experimentation. Some examples of methods to be included in this collection are, imaging techniques to assess beta-cell mass in vivo, transduction of isolated islets, ex vivo assessment of beta-cell function, or protocols for stem cell-derivation of endocrine clusters and beta cells. The issue is open to a broad range of methods, including original and previously published protocols.