Influence of relatively short-term culture on adult porcine islets for xenotransplantation

TL;DR

Short-term culture of adult pig islets for 14 days maintains their quality and viability, making them suitable for xenotransplantation in diabetes treatment.

Contribution

Demonstrates that 14-day culture of adult porcine islets preserves function and viability, important for xenotransplantation.

Findings

Morphology and viability of porcine islets remained stable after 14 days of culture.

Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion was preserved, though Ins, Gcg, and Sst gene expressions were reduced.

Islets engrafted successfully in diabetic mice 56 days post-transplantation despite no blood glucose normalization.

Abstract

Porcine islet xenotransplantation is a promising therapy for severe diabetes mellitus. Maintenance of the quality and quantity of porcine islets is important for the success of this treatment. Here, we aimed to elucidate the influence of relatively short-term (14 days) culture on adult porcine islets isolated from three micro-minipigs (P111, P112 and P121). Morphological characteristics of islets changed little after 14 days of culture. The viability of cultured islets was also maintained at a high level (> 80%). Furthermore, cultured islets exhibited similar glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and insulin content at Day 14 were preserved comparing with Day 1, while the expressions of Ins, Gcg and Sst were attenuated at Day 14. Xenotransplantation using diabetic nude mice showed no normalization of blood glucose but increased levels of plasma porcine C-peptide after the transplantation of 14 day cultured porcine islets. Histological assessment revealed that relatively short-term cultured porcine islets were successfully engrafted 56 days following transplantation. These data show that relatively short-term culture did not impair the quality of adult porcine islets in regard to function, morphology, and viability. Prevention of impairment of gene correlated with endocrine hormone is warranted for further improvement.

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