(A and B) H&E and immunofluorescence staining of the grafts from a vascularized mouse islet Tx (A) and mouse islet alone Tx (B) at day 35. The dotted line indicates the border on the brain. Col IV, collagen IV; hCD31, human CD31; INS, insulin; LAM, laminin. Scale bars, 50 μm.
(C and D) Quantification of the laminin-positive (n = 29) (C), and collagen IV-positive (n = 3) (D) areas. Data represent the mean ± SD. ****p < 0.0001. ns, not significant.
(E) Immunofluorescence staining of the grafts at day 35. GCG, glucagon; INS, insulin; SST, somatostatin. Scale bars, 50 μm.
(F) Quantification of the endocrine cells in the graft. Mouse islet alone, n = 10; vascularized mouse islet, n = 9. **p < 0.01.
(G–I) Quantification of the insulin-positive (G), glucagon-positive (H), and somatostatin-positive (I) areas in the graft. The data represent the mean ± SD. n = 12 mouse pancreatic islet Tx, n = 13 mouse islet alone, and n = 9 vascularized mouse islet Tx. ***p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; *p < 0.05. ns, not significant.
(J–L) Electron microscopy of the vascularized mouse islet Tx (J), mouse islet Tx (K), and pancreatic mouse islet (L) at 35 days. α, alpha cell; β, beta cell; δ, delta cell; BV, blood vessel; EC, exocrine cell. Scale bars, 5 μm