Fluorescent selective plane illumination micrograph (SPIM) of a murine pancreas, with blood vessels (blue), insulin producing beta-cells (red) and glucagon producing alpha-cells (green) visible. Alpha- and beta-cells are major components of the Islets of Langerhans and are usually found close to blood vessels. Insulin down-regulates blood glucose for example after food intake, whereas glucagon helps to increase blood glucose levels. In diabetic individuals, blood glucose levels are not properly regulated. In type 1 diabetes the person's own immune system attacks the beta cells so they cannot make enough insulin (this is a type of autoimmune disease). They will need to administer insulin externally. In type 2 diabetes not enough insulin is produced or the insulin that is may not be working properly. Prior to imaging, the pancreatic tissue was chemically treated to make the sample optically transparent. This image is a projection of the 3D data acquired with SPIM. The surrounding tissue is not shown. Sample courtesy of Ulf Ahlgren, Umeå University, Sweden. Horizontal width of image is 5693 micrometres.
