Islet pericytes convert into profibrotic myofibroblasts in a mouse model of islet vascular fibrosis.

ABSTRACT:

Aims/hypothesis

Islet vascular fibrosis may play an important role in the progression of type 2 diabetes, but there are no mouse models allowing detailed mechanistic studies to understand how a dysfunctional islet microvasculature contributes to diabetes pathogenesis. Here we report that the transgenic AktTg mouse, unlike other mouse strains, shows an increased deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in perivascular regions, allowing us to study the cellular mechanisms that lead to islet vascular fibrosis.

Methods

Using immunohistochemistry, we labelled the islet microvasculature and ECM in pancreas sections of AktTg mice and human donors and performed lineage tracing to follow the fate of islet pericytes. We compared islet microvascular responses in living pancrea

SUBMITTER: Mateus Goncalves L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7354906 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature