Cellular encapsulation holds promise for immunosuppression-free pancreatic islet transplantation. However, long-term graft survival remains a challenge, especially at the subcutaneous site. We harnessed temporary, controlled, inflammation-induced neovascularization to create a modified subcutaneous cavity that supports long-term survival and function of a customized islet encapsulation device without immunosuppression.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$29.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Marfil-Garza, B. A. et al. Pancreatic islet transplantation in type 1 diabetes: 20-year experience from a single-centre cohort in Canada. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 10, 519–532 (2022). Largest single-centre experience with pancreatic islet transplantation presenting a comprehensive description of 20-year outcomes with this treatment.
Scharp, D. & Marchetti, P. Encapsulated islets for diabetes therapy: history, current progress, and critical issues requiring solution. Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev. 67‒68, 35–73 (2014). A comprehensive review on the history of islet encapsulation technologies.
Marfil-Garza, B. A. et al. Current state and evidence of cellular encapsulation strategies in type 1 diabetes. Comprehens. Physiol. 10, 839–878 (2020). A review including clinical studies concerning encapsulated islet transplantation.
Pepper, A. R. et al. A prevascularized subcutaneous device-less site for islet and cellular transplantation. Nat. Biotechnol. 33, 518–523 (2015). Description of the ‘device-less’ technique for prevascularization of the subcutaneous space for non-encapsulated islet transplantation.
An, D. et al. Designing a retrievable and scalable cell encapsulation device for potential treatment of type 1 diabetes. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 115, e263–e272 (2018). Description of the optimized encapsulation device.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This is a summary of: Wang, L.-H. et al. Inflammation-induced subcutaneous neovascularization for the long-term survival of encapsulated islets without immunosuppression. Nat. Biomed. Eng. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-023-01145-8 (2023).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Subcutaneous pancreatic islet transplantation without immunosuppression. Nat. Biomed. Eng (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-023-01158-3
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-023-01158-3
