The major objectives of this core are to produce and provide, to the UCSF DRTC community, pancreatic tissues and purified islets from mouse, non-human primates (NHP), and human donor pancreas. Our focus is to provide each investigator the best possible pancreatic tissue and islets, ensuring the quality and reproducibility of these samples. We will focus on developing new techniques that aim to minimize islet cell death, maximize islet yields and optimize islet function. We will work closely with experts in the islet, b-cell field to identify factors that will contribute to us reaching our goals for better new islet isolation techniques. The Core will continue to develop assays to better assess the quality of a pancreatic islet preparation. Investigate more informative quality control assays, which will prospectively predict in vivo islet function rather than the limited prospective studies relied upon today. The Core will work with the basic scientists, which we provide pancreas tissue and islets, to help us take full advantage of new research in islet cell expansion and neogenesis into large-scale islet transplantation settings. The Core will also maintain the state-of-the-art human islet isolation facilities meeting all FDA's cGMP regulations for human islet isolation and transplantation. The Core will also maintain the NHP and rodent pancreatic islet isolation facilities. The Core will focus on taking the positive aspects to what has been developed in the human islet isolation laboratory and apply these techniques and assays to both the NHP and rodent facilities and vise versa. The Islet Production Facility Core will play a critical role in the experimental and clinical programs of the DRTC and our objective is to provide the best possible tissues and to aid in the advancement of islet and beta-cells research.
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