In vivo-Studie zur Biokompatibilität & Funktionalität pankreatischer Inseln in 3D-biogedrucken makroporösen Hydrogelkonstrukten

While type 1 Diabetes mellitus can be adequately treated, it cannot really be cured and the vast majority of patients will develop long-term complications such as renal failure over the course of their lives, which so far can only be avoided by the transplantation of pancreatic islets from donors. To counteract donor shortage it would be advantageous to use islets from animals, ideally neonatal pigs. Due to large immunological differences between the species, in this case the islets necessarily have to be shielded from the human immune system, which can be achieved by encapsulation in hydrogels, whereby a large surface decreases the diffusion distances nutrients, glucose and insulin have to cross and could possibly enable a quicker reaction. In the past, we were able to show that murine pancreatic islets and neonatal porcine islet-like clusters remain viable and functional when encapsulated in hydrogel-scaffolds prepared via 3D bioprinting.

Aim of the current project is now to transfer and expand this knowledge in an in vivo study to determine whether such constructs show immunoprotective capacities and whether the encapsulated islet-cluster can regulate blood glucose levels.