Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 10, 2026

Intraportal Transplantation of Pancreatic Islets in Mouse Model
Published on: May 5, 2018
Therapeutic Strategies for Modulating the Extracellular Matrix to Improve Pancreatic Islet Function and Survival
Alexandra M Smink1, Paul de Vos2
1Department of Pathology and Medical Biology, Section of Immunoendocrinology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, EA11, 9713 GZ, Groningen, The Netherlands. a.m.smink@umcg.nl.
Purposes Of Review:
Extracellular matrix (ECM) components modulate the interaction between pancreatic islet cells. During the islet isolation prior to transplantation as treatment for type 1 diabetes, the ECM is disrupted impacting functional graft survival. Recently, strategies for restoring ECM have shown to improve transplantation outcomes. This review discusses the current therapeutic strategies to modulate ECM components to improve islet engraftment.
Recent Findings:
Approaches applied are seeding islets in ECM of decellularized organs, supplementation of specific ECM components in polymeric scaffolds or immunoisolating capsules, and stimulating islet ECM production with specific growth factors or ECM-producing cells. These strategies have shown success in improving functional islet survival. However, the same experiments show that caution should be taken as some ECM components may negatively impact islet function and engraftment. ECM restoration resulted in improved transplantation outcomes, but careful selection of beneficial ECM components and strategies is warranted.
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