Retrieval and purification of human β cells from stem cell-derived islet engrafted mice.

Stem cell-derived beta cells (SC-β-cells) engrafted into mice serve as a pre-clinical model of diabetes. It is helpful to recover viable β cells following transplantation to perform tests on the graft. We developed a protocol to retrieve and purify a sufficient number of live β cells from mice following long-term human SC-β-cell engraftment. The protocol enables examination of SC-β-cells undergoing developmental and metabolic changes and may facilitate the understanding of metabolic demand on SC-β-cells.