Paving the way for successful islet encapsulation

Nikos Dimitrioglou1, Maria Kanelli1, Efstathia Papageorgiou2

  • 1School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Zografou Campus, 15780 Athens, Greece.

Drug Discovery Today
|February 10, 2019
PubMed

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a disorder that decimates pancreatic β-cells which produce insulin. Direct pancreatic islet transplantation cannot serve as a widespread therapeutic modality owing to the need for lifelong immunosuppression and donor shortage. Therefore, several encapsulation techniques have been developed to enclose the islets in semipermeable vehicles that will allow oxygen and nutrient input as well as insulin, other metabolites and waste output, while accomplishing immunoisolation. Although encapsulation technology continues to face significant obstacles, recent advances in material science, stem cell biology and immunology potentially serve as pathways to success. This review summarizes the accomplishments of the past 5 years.

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