Current insulin therapy fails to fully restore physiological glucose homeostasis in type 1 diabetes mellitus, with 75% of patients unable to achieve the desired management targets. While stem cell-derived islets offer promising therapy, they require an enhanced extracellular matrix support for optimal transplantation outcomes. To address this challenge, we developed biofunctional endocrine micro-pancreata using decellularized porcine lung scaffolds seeded with embryonic stem cell-derived islets. In vivo efficacy was evaluated following subcutaneous or intraperitoneal transplantation into NOD-SCID mice, followed by streptozotocin induction of diabetes, with the comprehensive assessment of human insulin secretion, glucose homeostasis, and graft integration over 3 months. Our results demonstrated that endocrine micro-pancreata exhibited 1.4-fold-increased glucose-stimulated insulin secretion in vitro compared to non-responsive free islets. In vivo, endocrine micro-pancreas recipients maintained significantly lower glucose levels than controls throughout the experiment. Subcutaneous endocrine micro-pancreata showed superior performance, with 46% improved glucose tolerance versus 31% improvement for intraperitoneal delivery. Extensive CD31-positive neovascularization as well as insulin staining confirmed successful graft integration and sustained insulin production. Endocrine micro-pancreata provide a scalable platform for diabetes cell therapy, demonstrating sustained insulin secretion and improved glycemic control. The preserved extracellular matrix microenvironment supports islet function and vascularization, offering significant potential for clinical translation.
Korol et al. (2025) studied this question.