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Do you know if exendin, an analog of GLP-1 (glucagon like peptide-1), can be toxic for beta-cells? For example what is the effect on INS1 or Min6 cells at a certain concentration or after 90 mins of incubation. And what is the impact on insulin secretion?

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At first glance, it should not be toxic considering that it is a normal endocrine signalling pathway withing pancreatic beta cells (exendin just being a synthetic GLP-1 analog). –  leonardo Apr 3 '12 at 22:32

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I recently tested exendin on INS1e cells in an Edu incorporation assay (similar to BrdU incorporation) to observe if this compound induces proliferation of the cells. Compound incubation was for 24 hours. I saw no incorporation of EdU with this compound over untreated levels. In addition, during the assay I look at overall cell number with a DNA stain, but I did not see any effect on total cell number with exendin (ie, if it were toxic the total cell number should go down which I have observed with other compounds).

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