ADI ISLETCORE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

​How do I sign up to receive human islets?

Please contact Tina by filling out the form to the right.

What documentation is required to sign up?

• A brief project description
• Your biosafety approval for working with human tissue
• Your human ethics approval (or Institutional Review Board exemption letter) for the proposed research
• A completed Request for Islets Form
• Your shipping address and FedEx account number

Is a material transfer agreement (MTA) required?

​Yes. Once the other documentation is in place, the University of Alberta will coordinate with your technology transfer office to create an MTA.

How much do the islets cost?

Islets are offered on a cost-recovery basis: $0.16 per IEQ for non-diabetic donors and $0.24 per IEQ for donors with diabetes. Our full price list can be found here.

Can I get a discount?

We currently do not offer discounted pricing. Please check back in 2024.

What information is provided with the islets?

​Donor age, sex, body mass index, HbA1c (if available), HLA-A2 status, and any relevant medical history (e.g. diabetes diagnosis or pancreatitis) are provided. Preparation information such as purity, islet particle index, culture time, and photos of dithizone-stained islets are also included.

HOW WILL I KNOW IF ISLETS ARE AVAILABLE?

An email will be sent out with donor and preparation information, along with a request form.

HOW DO YOU COUNT IEQS?

Dithizone-stained islet samples are counted and categorized by size, using a stereomicroscope with a counting reticle. A conversion factor is then applied to correlate islets of different sizes to IEQ (a standard islet equivalent of 100 um diameter). The full protocol can be found here.

​HOW ARE THE ISLETS SHIPPED?

Islets are shipped with CMRL media in a 50 mL tube at ambient temperature, via FedEx. Recipients in Canada and the United States typically receive the islets the next day, while international recipients typically receive them within 48 hours.

WHAT OTHER TISSUES AND SAMPLES ARE AVAILABLE?

We are able to offer paraffin-embedded sections of pancreatic biopsies and isolated islets from normal and diabetic donors, snap-frozen human islets, and viable cryopreserved islets. We also offer autologous tissues from pancreas donors including spleen, blood, pancreatic lymph nodes, adipose, acinar, and gut. The full price list can be found here.

WHAT KIND OF QUALITY ASSURANCE DO YOU PERFORM ON YOUR ISLET PREPARATIONS?

• Quantification and purity assessment via dithizone staining
• Immunohistochemistry
• Functional assessment via electrophysiology and insulin secretion assays
• Contamination assessment via culture of samples and supernatants
• Additional deep phenotyping of islets (currently being expanded)

HOW WILL I BE BILLED?

• Invoices are sent out quarterly, with payment accepted by wire transfer or cheque. For billing inquiries, please contact Tina Dafoe.

HOW DO I REPORT ISLET PREPARATION QUALITY ISSUES OR CONCERNS?

​If you suspect that your islet shipment is contaminated, please contact Tina Dafoe immediately so that ADI IsletCore and other islet recipients can be notified. If your shipment is otherwise unacceptable, you may contact us directly or report the problem through the online Feedback Form. If you are seeking a refund, you will be asked to send a digital photograph of the islet preparation to substantiate your claim.

I HAVE A MANUSCRIPT IN PREPARATION THAT DESCRIBES WORK USING SAMPLES OBTAINED FROM ADI ISLETCORE. HOW DO I ACKNOWLEDGE THE SOURCE OF THESE SAMPLES?

Congratulations! We would appreciate if you acknowledged the source of the tissue as follows:

“Human islets for research were provided by the Alberta Diabetes Institute IsletCore at the University of Alberta in Edmonton (www.bcell.org/adi-isletcore) with the assistance of the Human Organ Procurement and Exchange (HOPE) program, Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN), and other Canadian organ procurement organizations. Islet isolation was approved by the Human Research Ethics Board at the University of Alberta (Pro00013094). All donors' families gave informed consent for the use of pancreatic tissue in research.”

If you'd like to cite the resource, we suggest: Lyon J et al (2016) Research-focused isolation of human islets from donors with and without diabetes at the Alberta Diabetes Institute IsletCore. Endocrinology, 157(2): 560-569.

HOW DO I INTERPRET THE IMAGES OF ISLET PREPARATIONS THAT ARE INCLUDED IN YOUR EMAILS?

There are several factors that can be inferred from these images:

• Purity: visualization of the amount of DTZ-positive islet tissue versus acinar.
• Shape: smooth edged, spherical islets are ideal.
• Intensity of DTZ stain: densely-stained islets are ideal.
• Size distribution of islets: are there lots of middle-sized islets, or mainly large/small islets?
• Acinar-trapped islets: are the islets completely dissociated from any acinar tissue, or are they partially trapped?

i still have questions.

Please check out our Welcome Booklet to see if your question can be answered there! If not, you can send in your question(s) using the contact box to the right.