title: Progress and challenges of the bioartificial pancreas.
abstract: Pancreatic islet transplantation has been validated as a treatment for type 1 diabetes since it maintains consistent and sustained type 1 diabetes reversal. However, one of the major challenges in pancreatic islet transplantation is the body's natural immune response to the implanted islets. Immunosuppressive drug treatment is the most popular immunomodulatory approach for islet graft survival. However, administration of immunosuppressive drugs gives rise to negative side effects, and long-term effects are not clearly understood. A bioartificial pancreas is a therapeutic approach to enable pancreatic islet transplantation without or with minimal immune suppression. The bioartificial pancreas encapsulates the pancreatic islets in a semi-permeable environment which protects islets from the body's immune responses, while allowing the permeation of insulin, oxygen, nutrients, and waste. Many groups have developed various types of the bioartificial pancreas and tested their efficacy in animal models. However, the clinical application of the bioartificial pancreas still requires further investigation. In this review, we discuss several types of bioartificial pancreases and address their advantages and limitations. We also discuss recent advances in bioartificial pancreas applications with microfluidic or micropatterning technology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294 USA.
authors.forename: Patrick T J
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294 USA.
authors.forename: Dishant K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294 USA.
authors.forename: Jacob A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294 USA.
authors.forename: Chae Yun
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Boshell, 1720 2nd Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35294 USA.
authors.forename: Dong-Jin
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294 USA.
authors.forename: Ryan C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Huiszoon
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294 USA.
authors.forename: Grant C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294 USA ; 806 Shelby, 1825 University Boulevard, Birmingham, AL USA.
authors.forename: Ho-Wook
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Jun
keywords: Bioartificial pancreas; Islet surface modification; Macroencapsulation; Microencapsulation; Microfluidic; Micropatterning