Microvessels Support Engraftment and Functionality of Human Islets and HESC-derived Pancreatic Progenitors in Diabetes Models

Overview

Journal Cell Stem Cell

Publisher Cell Press

Specialty Cell Biology

Date 2021 Sep 4

PMID 34480863

Citations 35

Authors

Yasaman Aghazadeh

Frankie Poon

Farida Sarangi

Frances T M Wong

Safwat T Khan

Xuetao Sun

Rupal Hatkar

Brian J Cox

Sara S Nunes

M Cristina Nostro

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Islet transplantation is a promising treatment for type 1 diabetes (T1D), yet the low donor pool, poor islet engraftment, and life-long immunosuppression prevent it from becoming the standard of care. Human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived pancreatic cells could eliminate donor shortages, but interventions to improve graft survival are needed. Here, we enhanced subcutaneous engraftment by employing a unique vascularization strategy based on ready-made microvessels (MVs) isolated from the adipose tissue. This resulted in improved cell survival and effective glucose response of both human islets and hESC-derived pancreatic cells, which ameliorated preexisting diabetes in three mouse models of T1D.

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