Abstract
The measurement of oxygen consumption in spheroid clusters of cells, such as ex vivo pancreatic islets, has historically been challenging. We demonstrate the measurement of islet oxygen consumption using a 96-well microplate designed for the measurement of oxygen consumption in spheroids. In this assay, spheroid microplates are coated with a cell and tissue adhesive on the day prior to the assay. We utilize a small volume of adhesive solution to encourage islet adherence to only the bottom of the well. On the day of the assay, 15 islets are loaded directly into the base of each well using a technique that ensures optimal positioning of islets and accurate measurement of oxygen consumption. Various aspects of mitochondrial respiration are probed pharmacologically in non-human primate islets, including ATP-dependent respiration, maximal respiration, and proton leak. This method allows for consistent, reproducible results using only a small number of islets per well. It can theoretically be applied to any cultured spheroids of similar size.