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Mammalian Cell Encapsulation in Alginate Beads Using a Simple Stirred Vessel
Published on: June 29, 2017
Insulin secretion dynamics of free and alginate-encapsulated insulinoma cells
Shing-Yi Cheng1, Ioannis Constantinidis, Athanassios Sambanis
1Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 315 Ferst Drive, IBB Building, Room 1306, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.
Abstract:
This study investigates the effect of alginate/poly-L: -lysine/alginate (APA) encapsulation on the insulin secretion dynamics exhibited by an encapsulated cell system. Experiments were performed with the aid of a home-built perfusion apparatus providing a 1 min temporal resolution. Insulin profiles were measured from: (i) murine insulinoma betaTC3 cells encapsulated in calcium alginate/poly-L: -lysine/alginate (APA) beads generated with high guluronic (G) or high mannuoric (M) content alginate, and (ii) murine insulinoma betaTC-tet cells encapsulated in high M APA beads and propagated in the presence and absence of tetracycline. Results show that encapsulation in APA beads did not affect the insulin secretion profile shortly post-encapsulation. However, remodeling of the beads due to cell proliferation affected the insulin secretion profiles; and inhibiting remodeling by suppressing cell growth preserved the secretion profile. The implications of these findings regarding the in vivo function of encapsulated insulin secreting cells are discussed.
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