Academic literature on the topic 'Human pseudo-Islets'

The islets of Langerhans of the pancreas are the primary endocrine organ responsible for regulating whole body glucose homeostasis. The use of isolated primary islets for research development and training requires organ resection, careful digestion, and isolation of the islets from nonendocrine tissue. This process is time consuming, expensive, and requires substantial expertise. For these reasons, we sought to develop a more rapidly obtainable and consistent model system with characteristic islet morphology and function that could be employed to train personnel and better inform experiments prior to using isolated rodent and human islets. Immortalized β cell lines reflect several aspects of primary β cells, but cell propagation in monolayer cell culture limits their usefulness in several areas of research, which depend on islet morphology and/or functional assessment. In this manuscript, we describe the propagation and characterization of insulinoma pseudo-islets (IPIs) from a rat insulinoma cell line INS832/3. IPIs were generated with an average diameter of 200 μm, consistent with general islet morphology. The rates of oxygen consumption and mitochondrial oxidation-reduction changes in response to glucose and metabolic modulators were similar to isolated rat islets. In addition, the dynamic insulin secretory patterns of IPIs were similar to primary rat islets. Thus, INS832/3-derived IPIs provide a valuable and convenient model for accelerating islet and diabetes research.

It has previously been suggested that ACTH and ACTH-related peptides may act as paracrine modulators of insulin secretion in the islets of Langerhans. We have, therefore, examined the expression and function of the ACTH receptor (the melanocortin 2 receptor, MC2-R) in human and mouse primary islet tIssue and in the MIN6 mouse insulinoma cell line. Mouse MC2-R mRNA was detected in both MIN6 cells and mouse islet tIssue by PCR amplification of cDNA. In perifusion experiments with MIN6 pseudo-islets, a small, transient increase in insulin secretion was obtained when ACTH(1-24) (1 nM) was added to medium containing 2 mM glucose (control) but not when the medium glucose content was increased to 8 mM. Further investigations were performed using static incubations of MIN6 cell monolayers; ACTH(1-24) (1 pM-10 nM) provoked a concentration-dependent increase in insulin secretion from MIN6 monolayer cells that achieved statistical significance at concentrations of 1 and 10 nM (150 +/- 13.6% basal secretion; 187 +/- 14.9% basal secretion, P<0.01). Similar responses were obtained with ACTH(1-39). The phosphodiesterase inhibitor IBMX (100 microM) potentiated the responses to sub-maximal doses of ACTH(1-24). Two inhibitors of the protein kinase A (PKA) signaling pathway, Rp-cAMPS (500 microM) and H-89 (10 microM), abolished the insulin secretory response to ACTH(1-24) (0.5-10 nM). Treatment with 1 nM ACTH(1-24) caused a small, statistically significant increase in intracellular cAMP levels. Secretory responses of MIN6 cells to ACTH(1-24) were also influenced by changes in extracellular Ca2+ levels. Incubation in Ca2+-free buffer supplemented with 0.1 mM EGTA blocked the MIN6 cells' secretory response to 1 and 10 nM ACTH(1-24). Similar results were obtained when a Ca2+ channel blocker (nitrendipine, 10 microM) was added to the Ca2+-containing buffer. ACTH(1-24) also evoked an insulin secretory response from primary tIssues. The addition of ACTH(1-24) (0.5 nM) to perifusions of mouse islets induced a transient increase in insulin secretion at 8 mM glucose. Perifused human primary islets also showed a secretory response to ACTH(1-24) at basal glucose concentration (2 mM) with a rapid initial spike in insulin secretion followed by a decline to basal levels. Overall the results demonstrate that the MC2-R is expressed in beta-cells and suggest that activation of the receptor by ACTH initiates insulin secretion through the activation of PKA in association with Ca2+ influx into beta-cells.

Current management for diabetes has stimulated the development of versatile 3D-based hydrogels as in vitro platforms for insulin release and as support for the encapsulation of pancreatic cells and islets of Langerhans. This work aimed to create agarose/fucoidan hydrogels to encapsulate pancreatic cells as a potential biomaterial for diabetes therapeutics. The hydrogels were produced by combining fucoidan (Fu) and agarose (Aga), marine polysaccharides derived from the cell wall of brown and red seaweeds, respectively, and a thermal gelation process. The agarose/fucoidan (AgaFu) blended hydrogels were obtained by dissolving Aga in 3 or 5 wt % Fu aqueous solutions to obtain different proportions (4:10; 5:10, and 7:10 wt). The rheological tests on hydrogels revealed a non-Newtonian and viscoelastic behavior, while the characterization confirmed the presence of the two polymers in the structure of the hydrogels. In addition, the mechanical behavior showed that increasing Aga concentrations resulted in hydrogels with higher Young’s modulus. Further, the ability of the developed materials to sustain the viability of human pancreatic cells was assessed by encapsulation of the 1.1B4HP cell line for up to 7 days. The biological assessment of the hydrogels revealed that cultured pancreatic beta cells tended to self-organize and form pseudo-islets during the period studied.

The objective of this study is to optimize the cryopreservation of dissociated islet cells and obtain functional cells that can be used in single-cell transcriptome studies on the pathology and treatment of diabetes. Using an iterative graded freezing approach we obtained viable cells after cooling in 10% dimethyl sulfoxide and 6% hydroxyethyl starch at 1°C/min to –40°C, storage in liquid nitrogen, rapid thaw, and removal of cryoprotectants by serial dilution. The expression of epithelial cell adhesion molecule declined immediately after thaw, but recovered after overnight incubation, while that of an endocrine cell marker (HPi2) remained high after cryopreservation. Patch-clamp electrophysiology revealed differences in channel activities and exocytosis of various islet cell types; however, exocytotic responses, and the biophysical properties of voltage-gated Na+ and Ca2+ channels, are sustained after cryopreservation. Single-cell RNA sequencing indicates that overall transcriptome and crucial exocytosis genes are comparable between fresh and cryopreserved dispersed human islet cells. Thus, we report an optimized procedure for cryopreserving dispersed islet cells that maintained their membrane integrity, along with their molecular and functional phenotypes. Our findings will not only provide a ready source of cells for investigating cellular mechanisms in diabetes but also for bio-engineering pseudo-islets and islet sheets for modeling studies and potential transplant applications.

Treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) via allogeneic donor transplant has limited success due to morbidities from immunosuppression (IS) and a gradual loss of engrafted pancreatic islet function. We report that allogeneic transplantation of engineered, primary, hypoimmune, pseudo-islets (HIP p-islets) engraft into a fully immunocompetent, diabetic non-human primate (NHP), provide stable endocrine function, and enable insulin independence without inducing any detectable immune response in the absence of IS. NHP cadaveric islet cells were engineered to disrupt function of MHC class I and II and overexpress CD47 thus rendering them hypoimmune (HIP). Diabetes was induced in the NHP with streptozotocin and daily insulin injections started to re-establish glucose control. After 78 days, NHP underwent transplantation of HIP p-islets by intramuscular injection resulting in insulin independence. As early as one week after the transplantation, the NHP’s serum c-peptide level had normalized and remained stable throughout the follow-up period of 6 months. The NHP showed tightly controlled blood glucose levels for 6 months, was completely insulin-independent, and continuously healthy. Up to 6 months after HIP p-islet transplantation, PBMCs and serum were obtained for immune analyses. HIP PI showed no T cell recognition, no graft-specific antibodies, and were protected from NK cell and macrophage killing. To prove that the monkey’s insulin-independence was fully dependent on the HIP p-islets graft and there was no regeneration of his endogenous islet cell population, we triggered the destruction of the HIP p-islet transplant using a CD47-targeting strategy resulting in loss of glycemic control and return to exogenous insulin dependence. These data demonstrate evidence for immune evasion of HIP p-islets, graft mediated insulin-independence of the diabetic NHP, and a potential safety strategy. Disclosure X. Hu: Employee; Sana Biotechnology. Stock/Shareholder; Sana Biotechnology. K. White: None. C. Young: Employee; Sana biotechnology. Stock/Shareholder; Sana biotechnology. A.G. Olroyd: Employee; Sana Biotechnology. Stock/Shareholder; Sana Biotechnology. P. Kievit: Consultant; Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Embark Bio. Research Support; Sana Biotechnology, Novo Nordisk A/S. A. Connolly: None. T. Deuse: Stock/Shareholder; Sana Biotechnology, Shinobi Therapeutics. S. Schrepfer: Stock/Shareholder; Sana Biotechnology. Employee; Sana Biotechnology.

Non-invasive imaging of endocrine pancreatic function could provide valuable insights into the magnitude and temporal pattern of β-cell dysfunction in diabetes. Islets comprise 1-2% of pancreatic mass, but receive about 10-20% of pancreatic blood flow, which increases further during stimulation of insulin secretion. We examined the relationship between pancreatic blood flow (PBF) and insulin secretory dynamics in 12 healthy volunteers (6M / 6F, age = 29 ± 5 yrs, BMI = 24.0 ± 2.7 kg/m², HbA1c = 5.1 ± 0.3 %, FPG = 88 ± mg/dl, fasting insulin = 3.7 ± 2.3 μU/ml) . PBF was measured by pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (ASL) MRI, with the labeling plane positioned 5-6 cm superior to the imaging slice to label blood in the descending aorta. Fasting subjects were placed in a 3T scanner, and PBF was measured during 1) a 15 min basal period, 2) a +100 mg/dl hyperglycemic clamp for 40 min, followed by 3) a 5 gm bolus of arginine to assess maximal acute insulin response (AIRmax) . First phase (0-min) insulin response to hyperglycemia was 181 ± 96 μU/ml · min, and AIRmax after arginine + hyperglycemia (40-50 min) was 1097 ± 629 μU/ml · min. Basal PBF (188 ± 53 ml/100 gm/min) increased during first phase insulin release, peaking at 212 ± 66 at 12 min, subsequently returned to basal levels (176 ± 59) from 10-40 min during sustained hyperglycemia,and peaked again at 2± 62 at 2 min after arginine. Although there were no significant correlations between glucose, insulin or c-peptide levels and PBF, time-series Granger causality analysis demonstrated that the time-derivative of c-peptide and insulin concentrations, reflectingacute changes in insulin secretion, preceded the increase in PBF (p=0.03 for d[c-peptide]/dt, and p = 0.for d[insulin]/dt) . Conclusions: 1) Changes in PBF during stimulation of insulin secretion in humans can be imaged non-invasively by ASL, 2) Insulin secretion precedes changes in PBF, and 3) The rate of change in insulin and c-peptide release predicts subsequent modulation of PBF. Disclosure D.C.Simonson: Stock/Shareholder; GI Windows, Phase V Technologies, Inc. M.Taso: Research Support; GE Healthcare Systems. C.Mcgrath: None. S.A.Waldman: None. F.Papadopoulou: None. D.C.Alsop: Other Relationship; GE Healthcare Systems, Hitachi, Ltd., Philips Healthcare, Siemens, UIH America, Research Support; GE Healthcare Systems.

Introduction : L'utilisation des îlots humains de Langerhans est la référence pour la recherche, tant physiologique que pour le développement de nouvelles molécules thérapeutiques pour le traitement du diabète de type 2. La demande d'îlots de Langerhans humains pour des projets de recherche est en constante augmentation, cependant, la disponibilité est limitée et les différentes préparations d'îlots de Langerhans révèlent une grande variabilité entre elles.Objectifs : L'objectif principal de cette thèse était de proposer une alternative aux îlots de Langerhans humains natifs qui permettrait d’obtenir des îlots pancréatiques homogènes et en quantité abondante pour les projets de recherche.Pour ce faire, nous avions deux objectifs principaux : 1) la production de pseudo-îlots de diamètre contrôlé à partir de pancréas humain, et l'évaluation de leur fonction in vitro et in vivo par rapport à leurs équivalents îlots natifs ; 2) l'optimisation de la production de cellules endocrines pancréatiques à partir de différentes lignées de cellules souches pluripotentes et l'évaluation des effets de la progérine sur la différenciation et la maturation des cellules produites. Les cellules souches pluripotentes utilisées provenaient de donneurs sains (H1, WiCell) et de patients atteints de Progeria (HGPS, iStem).Matériel et méthodes : Les pseudo-îlots ont été formés dans un milieu d'îlots clinique (CMRL 1066 albumine humaine, insuline) pendant 7 jours en utilisant les Sphericalplate 5D (Kulgelmeiers) et comparés aux îlots natifs J1 (jour 1) et J7 (jour 7) du même donneur.La différenciation des cellules souches pluripotentes (cellules iPS DF19.9, H1 et iPS HGPS) a été optimisée par différents protocoles : le protocole Rezania, le SD Kit (StemCell Technologies) et le protocole Nostro. L'expression des gènes de maturation in vitro entre différentes lignées cellulaires a été évaluée par qPCR. L'expression des protéines a été évaluée par immunofluorescence et par cytométrie en flux (plateforme EGID).Pour la maturation in vivo, après la transplantation sous la capsule rénale de souris immunodéficientes, des mesures de glycémie et de c-peptide humain ont été effectuées, ainsi que des tests métaboliques comme l'ipGTT.12Résultats : Les pseudo-îlots (n=4) générés ont sécrété significativement moins d'insuline in vitro que les îlots natifs à J1 mais sans différence significative avec les îlots natifs à J7. Dans les deux groupes à J7, on a observé une diminution significative de l'insuline intracellulaire comparativement aux îlots natifs à J1. In vivo, les îlots natifs à J1 sécrètent significativement plus de c-peptide humain que les îlots natifs à J7, alors que la différence n'est pas significative entre les îlots natifs à J1 et les pseudo-îlots à J7. De plus, l'analyse morphométrique des greffons a révélé que les pseudo-îlots ont tendance à avoir plus de cellules glucagon-positives que les deux autres groupes.L'optimisation de la différenciation des cellules souches pluripotentes a permis d'obtenir plus de 95% d'endoderme pour les cellules H1 et 80% pour les cellules iPS HGPS. Pour les deux lignées, nous avons généré 95 % de progéniteurs pancréatiques. La comparaison des gènes de maturation a révélé que la progérine conduisait à une légère augmentation de la maturation cellulaire dans le groupe iPS HGPS par rapport aux cellules H1. Des marqueurs liés à l'âge (53BP1, IGF1r et yH2AX) ont été validés dans un pancréas provenant d'un donneur âgé et un insulinome. Cependant, aucune différence de la fonctionnalité in vivo n’a été observée. Six mois post transplantation, nous avons identifié yH2AX dans des cellules endocrines et non endocrine des greffons H1 alors que dans les greffons HGPS, nous l’avons observé dans une plus vaste proportion de cellules présentant différentes formes de noyaux [...]
Introduction: The use of human islets of Langerhans is the gold standard for research, both for physiological research and for the development of new therapeutic molecules for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The demand of human islets for research projects is constantly growing however, the availability is limited and different islet preparations show significant variability between human pancreata.Objectives: The main objective of this thesis was to propose an alternative to native human islets that can provide homogeneous and abundant pancreatic islets for research. To do this, we had two main objectives: 1) the production of controlled diameter pseudo-islets from human pancreata, and the evaluation of their function in vitro and in vivo compared to their native islet counterparts; 2) the optimization of the production of pancreatic endocrine cells from different pluripotent stem cell lines and evaluation of the impact of progerin on the differentiation and maturation of the cells produced. Pluripotent stem cells from healthy donors (H1, WiCell) and from patients affected with accelerated aging disease Progeria (HGPS, iStem).Material and Methods: The pseudo-islets were formed in clinical islet medium (CMRL 1066 human albumin, insulin) 7 days using the 5D Sphericalplate (Kulgelmeiers) and compared to the native islets D1 (day 1) and D7 (day 7) from the same donor.The differentiation of pluripotent stem cells (iPS DF19.9, H1 and iPS HGPS cells) was optimized using different protocols: the Rezania protocol, the SD Kit (StemCell Technologies) and the Nostro protocol. For in vitro maturation gene expression among different cell lines was evaluated by qPCR. Protein expression was assessed by immunofluorescence technique and Flow cytometry analysis (EGID).For in vivo maturation, after transplantation under the kidney capsule of immunodeficient mice, blood glucose and human c-peptide measurements were assessed as well as metabolic test such as IPGTT were performed.Results: The pseudo-islets (n=4) generated in clinical islet medium secreted significantly less insulin in vitro than the native islets at D1 but with no significant difference from the native islets at D7. In both groups at D7, a significant decrease in intracellular insulin was observed compared10to native islets at D1. In vivo, the native islets at D1 secrete significantly more human c-peptide than the native islets at D7, while the difference is not significant between the native islets at D1 and the pseudo-islets at D7. In addition, morphometric analysis of the grafts revealed that the pseudo-islets tend to have more glucagon positive cells than the other two groups.Optimization of the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells allowed us to obtain more than 95% endoderm for H1 cells and 80% for iPS HGPS cells. For both lines, we generated 95% of pancreatic progenitor cells. The comparison of maturation genes revealed that progerin lead to a slight increase of cell maturation in the iPS HGPS group compared to H1 cells. However, no differences in in vivo function was observed. Age-related markers (53BP1, IGF1r, p16 and yH2AX) which validated in a pancreas from an elderly donor and an insulinoma. We identified yH2AX after 6 months transplantation of H1-grafts in endocrine and non-endocrine cells, while the expression in iPS HGPS-grafts appeared in the majority of cells, which had various shape of nucleiConclusion: This work provided positive results in terms of functional pseudo-islets and stem cells derived pancreatic endocrine cells. However, they remain preliminary and further studies must be conducted to provide realistic alternatives to native human islets for research

Les îlots pancréatiques jouent un rôle central dans l'homéostasie nutritionnelle et sont au cœur des mécanismes liés au diabète. Ce micro-organe se compose de plusieurs types cellulaires distincts : les cellules α, sécrétrices de glucagon, les cellules β, sécrétrices d'insuline, les cellules δ, sécrétrices de somatostatine, et les cellules gamma, sécrétrices du polypeptide pancréatique (PPY). L'activité des îlots repose sur les interactions entre ces différents types cellulaires, bien que la contribution précise de certaines, comme les cellules delta et gamma, reste encore mal comprise. Par ailleurs, il existe un potentiel thérapeutique intéressant dans les mécanismes d’interconversion cellulaire au sein des îlots.Ce projet interdisciplinaire vise à explorer le rôle de ces cellules à travers : 1) des modèles génétiques innovants chez la souris pour ablater certaines hormones ou types cellulaires, des pseudo-îlots humains de composition définie, ainsi que des cellules interconverties (Université de Genève) ; 2) l’utilisation d’électrophysiologie microfluidique pour un suivi à court et long terme (CBMN).Ce travail aboutira à l'élaboration d'un nouveau modèle physiologique des îlots pancréatiques, applicable à la fois à la souris et à l’homme in silico, avec des implications directes pour le développement de nouvelles thérapies
Pancreatic islets play a central role in nutritional homeostasis and are at the heart of diabetes-related mechanisms. This micro-organ consists of several distinct cell types: alpha cells, which secrete glucagon; beta cells, which secrete insulin; delta cells, which secrete somatostatin; and gamma cells, which secrete pancreatic polypeptide (PPY). The activity of the islets depends on interactions between these different cell types, although the precise contribution of some, such as delta and gamma cells, remains poorly understood. Furthermore, there is therapeutic potential in the mechanisms of cell interconversion within the islets.This interdisciplinary project aims to explore the role of these cells through: 1) innovative genetic mouse models to ablate certain hormones or cell types, human pseudo-islets of defined composition, as well as interconverted cells (University of Geneva); 2) the use of microfluidic electrophysiology for short- and long-term monitoring (CBMN).This work will lead to the development of a new physiological model of pancreatic islets, applicable both to mice and humans in silico, with direct implications for the development of new therapies