Figure 1.

Palmitate induces injury to isolated mouse islets. Following incubation with 0.5 mmol/l palmitate for the indicated periods of time (24, 48 and 72 h), islet (A) viability and (B) apoptosis were analyzed by examining histone-associated DNA fragments and by MTT assay, respectively. Following incubation with 0.5 mmol/l palmitate for 48 h, (C) the insulin mRNA and (D) pancreatic duodenal homeobox 1 (PDX1) mRNA and protein levels were determined by qPCR and immunoblot analysis, respectively. The relative transcript levels were normalized to those of 36B4. n=3 separate islet preparations; ^*p<0.05; ^**p<0.01.