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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Apr 1.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2017 Apr;24(2):83–91. doi: 10.1097/MED.0000000000000321

Figure 1. Parabiosis experiments.

Figure 1

Parabiosis experiments connect the circulatory systems of two mice. A) The db and ob mice are genetically obese due to mutations at different gene loci. When Coleman connected the circulations of the two mutant mice, the db mouse remained obese while the ob mouse starved to death (15). Coleman concluded that the ob mouse lacked a circulating satiety factor and the db mouse lacked its receptor. B) The liver insulin receptor knockout (LIRKO) mouse is severely insulin resistant and has a high rate of β-cell replication. Kulkarni connected the circulatory systems of wildtype and LIRKO mice and observed a high rate of β-cell replication in both mice, suggesting that a circulating factor that is responsive to the insulin resistant state is responsible for the increase in β-cell replication (18,19). Original figure.