Laser microdissection is a technique that allows the recovery of selected cells from minute amounts of parenchyma. Here we describe a protocol for acquiring human pancreatic islets from surgical specimens to be used for transcriptomic studies. Our protocol improves the intrinsic autofluorescence of human beta cells, thus facilitating their collection.
Sturm, D., Marselli, L., Ehehalt, F., Richter, D., Distler, M., Kersting, S., Grützmann, R., Bokvist, K., Froguel, P., Liechti, R., Jörns, A., Meda, P., Baretton, G. B., Saeger, H., Schulte, A. M., Marchetti, P., Solimena, M. Improved Protocol For Laser Microdissection Of Human Pancreatic Islets From Surgical Specimens. J. Vis. Exp. (71), e50231, doi:10.3791/50231 (2013).