TY  - JOUR
AU  - Sobel, Douglas
AU  - Cui, Wanxing
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/20
TI  - Development of Methods for Transplanting Human Islet within Macroencapsulation Device that Reverse Diabetes in Mice
JO  - OBM Transplantation
SP  - 268
VL  - 10
IS  - 01
AB  - Transplanting islets into the subcutaneous (SC) space rather than the portal vein is advantageous because this site is easier and safer to use. However, transplantation of islets directly or within planar devices has been unsuccessful in humans, mainly because of the low oxygen torr in the SC space. Since human islets are very different from mouse islets, the use of human islets in animal experiments to study SC islet transplantation may help to alleviate the roadblocks of this approach in humans. This is the first report that explores methods for SC transplantation of human islets in mice. In vitro studies showed that Matrigel and Geltrex serve well as islet cell matrices, whereas none of the Cytodex formulations were useful. Doses of FGF2 as high as 10,000 ng/ml were not toxic to human islets in vitro and could be used in vivo. Human islets are more viable in macroencapsulation devices than on standard culture plates. In vivo studies demonstrated that transplanting human islets SC into diabetic nude mice does not lower blood glucose, and administering FGF2 at the site two weeks before transplantation results in only a minimal decrease in blood glucose. SC transplantation of islets within a silicone scaffold reduced blood glucose to below 150 mg/dl by day 14, effectively normalizing blood glucose in all diabetic nude mice, whereas control mice showed no decline. Mean blood glucose remained lower than in control mice from day 6 through the end of the experiment (p 
SN  - 2577-5820
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.transplant.2601268
DO  - 10.21926/obm.transplant.2601268
ID  - Sobel2026
ER  -