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UK Health Security Agency

Ulster University

​Ulster University is a leading public research institution in Northern Ireland, with campuses in Belfast, Coleraine, Jordanstown, and Magee. It offers a wide range of programmes from undergraduate to doctoral level and is recognised for teaching quality, research, innovation, and widening access to higher education. In 2021, Ulster ranked in the top 10% of UK universities for combined 4* and 3* research impact, excelling in life and health sciences. In 2024, Times Higher Education named Ulster “University of the Year” for the UK and Ireland, highlighting its excellence in teaching, research, student experience, and leadership.

 

Cell Line Portfolio

Ulster University have deposited a portfolio of human and rat islet cell lines with ECACC. The collection encompasses a range of hybrid cell lines, created by fusing primary islet cells with carcinoma or insulinoma-derived lines. Each model offers distinctive features that are valuable for research into pancreatic biology and diabetes therapeutics.

 

Benefits

  • Provide renewable and reproducible pancreatic cell sources, reducing reliance on scarce and variable donor tissue.

  • Human-derived lines (1.4E7, 1.2B4) offer direct relevance to human beta-cell biology, making them suitable for translational diabetes research.

  • Enable controlled production of insulin-secreting cells under defined stimulation protocols, ensuring reproducibility of functional studies.

  • Facilitate mechanistic investigation of insulin secretion pathways and beta-cell function in both human and rat systems.

  • Rat-derived BRIN lines (BD11, BG5, BG7) extend the portfolio with stable, well-characterised beta-cell models for comparative and fundamental biology studies.

  • Cells are authenticated and tested negative for mycoplasma.

  • Tumourigenic potential in SCID mice provides an additional in vivo model for studying pancreatic cell biology and transformation.

  • Suitable for drug screening and functional assays, offering potential use in systems to test candidate compounds affecting insulin secretion.

 

Ulster University Collection

Explore cell lines from Ulster University here.

 

References 

  1. Anastasiou IA, Sarantis P, Rebelos E, Eleftheriadou I, Tentolouris KN, Katsaouni A, Koustas E, Kokala V, Karamouzis MV, Tentolouris N. l-Securinine Induces ROS-Dependent Apoptosis on Pancreatic Cancer Cells via the PI3K/AKT/mTOR Signaling Pathway. J Biochem Mol Toxicol. 2024 Nov;38(11):e70036. doi: 10.1002/jbt.70036. PMID: 39467148.

  2. Deręgowska A, Tomaszek N, Cuch P, Kozioł K, Kaniuka O, Sabadashka M, Bandura Y, Sybirna N. Glucotoxicity is mediated by cytoplasmic distribution of RAP1 in pancreatic β-cells. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2024 May;755:109982. doi: 10.1016/j.abb.2024.109982. Epub 2024 Apr 1. PMID: 38570110.

  3. Ilie I, Ilie R, Mocan T, Tabaran F, Iancu C, Mocan L. Nicotinamide-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes increase insulin production in pancreatic beta cells via MIF pathway. Int J Nanomedicine. 2013;8:3345-53. doi: 10.2147/IJN.S48223. Epub 2013 Aug 30. PMID: 24039418; PMCID: PMC3770514.

  4. Lieber M, Mazzetta J, Nelson-Rees W, Kaplan M, Todaro G. Establishment of a continuous tumor-cell line (panc-1) from a human carcinoma of the exocrine pancreas. Int J Cancer. 1975 May 15;15(5):741-7. doi: 10.1002/ijc.2910150505. PMID: 1140870.

  5. McClenaghan NH, Barnett CR, Ah-Sing E, Abdel-Wahab YH, O'Harte FP, Yoon TW, Swanston-Flatt SK, Flatt PR. Characterization of a novel glucose-responsive insulin-secreting cell line, BRIN-BD11, produced by electrofusion. Diabetes. 1996 Aug;45(8):1132-40. doi: 10.2337/diab.45.8.1132. PMID: 8690162.

  6. McClenaghan NH, Barnett CR, O'Harte FP, Swanston-Flatt SK, Ah-Sing E, Flatt PR. Characteristics of BRIN-BG5 and BRIN-BG7, two novel glucose-responsive insulin-secreting cell lines produced by electrofusion. J Endocrinol. 1996 Mar;148(3):409-17. doi: 10.1677/joe.0.1480409. PMID: 8778219

  7. McCluskey JT, Hamid M, Guo-Parke H, McClenaghan NH, Gomis R, Flatt PR. Development and functional characterization of insulin-releasing human pancreatic beta cell lines produced by electrofusion. J Biol Chem. 2011 Jun 24;286(25):21982-92. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M111.226795. Epub 2011 Apr 22. PMID: 21515691; PMCID: PMC3121343.

  8. Nishimura N, Saito S, Kubota Y, Moto-o N, Taguchi K, Yamazaki K, Watanabe A, Sasaki H. Newly established human pancreatic carcinoma cell lines and their lectin binding properties. Int J Pancreatol. 1993 Feb;13(1):31-41. doi: 10.1007/BF02795197. PMID: 8454916.