title: Immobilization of primary cultures of insulin-releasing human pancreatic cells.
abstract: Transplantation of pancreatic islets isolated from organ donors constitutes a promising alternative treatment for type1 Diabetes, however, it is severely limited by the shortage of organ donors. Ex-vivo islet cell cultures appear as an attractive but still elusive approach for curing type 1 Diabetes. It has recently been shown that, even in the absence of fibrotic overgrowth, several factors, such as insufficient nutrition of the islet core, represent a major barrier for long-term survival of islets grafts. The use of immobilized dispersed cells may contribute to solve this problem due to conceivably easier nutritional and oxygen support to the cells.  Therefore, we set out to establish an immobilization method for primary cultures of human pancreatic cells by adsorption onto microcarriers (MCs). Dispersed human islets cells were seeded onto Cytodex1 microcarriers and cultured in bioreactors for up to eight days. The cell number increased and islet cells maintained their insulin secretion levels throughout the time period studied. Moreover, the cells also presented a tendency to cluster upon five days culturing.  Therefore, this procedure represents a useful tool for controlled studies on islet cells physiology and, also, for biotechnological applications.
authors.affiliation: Cell and Molecular Therapy Center (NUCEL), University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marluce da Cunha
authors.initials: Mda C
authors.lastname: Mantovani
authors.forename: Mateus Meneghesso
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: da Conceição
authors.forename: Ari José Scattone
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Letícia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Labriola
authors.forename: Patrícia Barros
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: dos Santos
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tonso
authors.forename: Carlos Augusto
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Hamza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: El-Dorry
authors.forename: Mari Cleide
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Sogayar
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption / Q000502:physiology; D000328:Adult; D019149:Bioreactors; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism*; D000078790:Insulin Secretion; D050417:Insulin-Secreting Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin