Abstract
The pancreatic islet is a functional unit of the pancreatic endocrine system, and it has a potential to cure type 1 diabetes by transplantation. However, donor shortage is a serious problem. To solve this, it is suggested to use the islet-like tissues from pancreatic beta cell lines or iPS cell derived insulin-producing cells. In this paper, we introduce a three-dimensional culture method for constructing islet-like tissues with microstructures those can enhance the insulin secretion activity. The islet-like tissues showed higher insulin secretion activity by mixing α cells and/or hydrogel beads. Moreover, the islet-like tissues containing pancreatic alpha cells exhibited higher therapeutic performance when they were transplanted under the kidney capsules of the streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice. Achievement to develop more functional islet-like tissues results in a reduction of medical cost as well as cell number in transplantation. The concept of redesigning the microstructure of islet-like tissues may be effective for future transplantation treatment.
