Artificial pancreatic tissue will improve the results of transplantation
Researchers at the Israeli Technion Institute, working under the guidance of Professor Shulamit Levenberg, have developed a method for growing pancreatic tissue containing secretory cells surrounded by a three-dimensional network of blood vessels.
Such bioengineered tissue has a number of advantages over traditional transplant material obtained from healthy donor tissue. It ensures a longer survival of insulin-producing cells and the production of more insulin and other important pancreatic hormones.
Transplantation of such tissue to mice with diabetes led to a significant decrease in glucose levels in the blood of animals.
Transplantation of donor pancreatic islets containing secretory cells is one of the methods of treatment of type 1 diabetes, in which the own immune system destroys insulin-producing cells. However, there is very little available donor material; moreover, transplantation often does not provide the desired result.
According to Levenberg, one of the reasons for the failure of the transplant is the impossibility of its integration into the recipient's vascular network. Therefore, the key to success is the creation of a well-developed vascular network. This will not only provide the cells of the transplanted tissue with nutrition and oxygen, but also facilitate intercellular interactions carried out by means of growth hormones secreted by cells and other active molecules. All this should significantly increase the probability of successful engraftment and full functioning of the graft.
The three-dimensional system developed by Technion specialists makes it possible to solve this problem by creating a new tissue for transplantation from several types of cells. It consists in populating a framework of porous material with mouse islet cells of the pancreas, endothelial cells isolated from human umbilical veins and human foreskin cells that contribute to the formation of tubular blood vessels.
The authors note that the technology is still very far from clinical research, but they are already starting work on creating transplants using human islet cells.
Experts are very inspired by the results obtained. They hope that if the developers succeed in reproducing their technique using only human cells, the technology will very quickly take its place in clinical practice. They also believe that the new model system is a good platform for studying the subtle mechanisms that ensure the success of transplantation.
Article by Kaufman-Francis et al. Engineered Vascular Beds Provide Key Signals to Pancreatic Hormone-Producing Cells published in the journal PLoS ONE.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of the American Technion Society:
Engineered Pancreatic Tissues Could Lead to Better Transplants for Diabetics.
17.08.2012