The islet of Langerhans contains at least five types of endocrine cells producing distinct hormones. In response to nutrient or neuronal stimulation, islet endocrine cells release biochemicals including peptide hormones to regulate metabolism and to control glucose homeostasis. It is now recognized that malfunction of islet cells, notably insufficient insulin release of β-cells and hypersecretion of glucagon from α-cells, represents a causal event leading to hyperglycemia and frank diabetes, a disease that is increasing at an alarming rate to reach an epidemic level worldwide. Understanding the mechanisms regulating stimulus-secretion coupling and investigating how islet β-cells maintain a robust secretory activity are important topics in islet biology and diabetes research. To facilitate such studies, a number of biological systems and assay platforms have been developed for the functional analysis of islet cells. These technologies have enabled detailed analyses of individual islets at the cellular level, either in vitro, in situ, or in vivo.

朗格汉斯岛含有至少五种类型的内分泌细胞，可产生不同的激素。响应营养物或神经元刺激，胰岛内分泌细胞释放包括肽激素在内的生化物质，以调节代谢并控制葡萄糖稳态。现在已经认识到，胰岛细胞功能异常，特别是β细胞胰岛素释放不足和胰高血糖素从α细胞分泌过多，都代表着导致高血糖和坦率糖尿病的因果事件，这种疾病正以惊人的速度增加，最终达到全球流行水平。在胰岛生物学和糖尿病研究中，了解调节刺激-分泌偶联的机制以及研究胰岛β细胞如何维持强大的分泌活性是重要的话题。为了促进此类研究，已经开发了许多用于胰岛细胞功能分析的生物学系统和测定平台。这些技术使得能够在体外，原位或体内在细胞水平上对单个胰岛进行详细分析。