Human Pancreatic Microvascular Endothelial Cells

The pancreas is an endocrine gland and digestive organ which secretes hormones and produces pancreatic juice to aid in digestion. Pancreatic endocrine cells, also known as pancreatic islets, produce vital hormones such as glucagon, insulin, amylin, and somatostatin. In order to support the islets, the pancreas is a highly vascularized organ where endothelial cells play a critical role. Pancreatic microvascular endothelial cells (PaMEC) not only function to transport oxygen and nutrients to the pancreas, but also affect beta cell function and proliferation, influence insulin gene expression during islet development, and produce various growth factors associated with vasoactivity. Additionally, PaMEC are involved in optimizing blood glucose sensing and regulation. Recent studies have shown that PaMEC are involved in the development and progression of pancreatic cancer. Human PaMEC (HPaMEC) are a useful in vitro model for studying islet biology, pancreatic cancer, transplantation, and regenerative medicine.

HPaMEC from ScienCell Research Laboratories are isolated from human pancreas. HPaMEC are cryopreserved at passage one and delivered frozen. Each vial contains >5 x 10⁵ cells in 1 ml volume. HPaMEC are characterized by immunofluorescence with antibodies specific to vWF/Factor VIII and/or CD31 (PECAM1). HPaMEC are negative for HIV-1, HBV, HCV, mycoplasma, bacteria, yeast, and fungi. HPaMEC are guaranteed to further expand for 10 population doublings under the conditions provided by ScienCell Research Laboratories.

Recommended Medium

It is recommended to use Endothelial Cell Medium (ECM, Cat. #1001) for culturing HPaMEC in vitro