Background

Tissue engineering is considered as a promising tool for remodeling the native cells microenvironment. In the present study, the effect of alginate hydrogel and collagen microspheres integrated with extracellular matrix components were evaluated in the decrement of apoptosis in human pancreatic islets. Materials/methods: For three-dimensional culture, the islets were encapsulated in collagen microspheres, containing laminin and collagen IV and embedded in alginate scaffold for one week. After that the islets were examined in terms of viability, apoptosis, genes and proteins expression including BAX, BCL2, active caspase-3, and insulin. Moreover, the islets function was evaluated through glucose-induced insulin and C-peptide secretion assay. In order to evaluate the structure of the scaffolds and the morphology of the pancreatic islets in three-dimensional microenvironments, we performed scanning electron microscopy.

Results

Our findings showed that the designed hydrogel scaffolds significantly improved the islets viability using the reduction of activated caspase-3 and TUNEL positive cells.

Conclusions

The reconstruction of the destructed matrix with alginate hydrogels and collagen microspheres might be an effective step to promote the culture of the islets.

中文翻译：

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海藻酸盐水凝胶中掺入的胶原微球作为工程化三维微环境减轻人胰岛细胞凋亡的潜力

背景

组织工程被认为是重塑天然细胞微环境的有前途的工具。在本研究中，评估了与细胞外基质成分结合的海藻酸盐水凝胶和胶原微球在减少人胰岛细胞凋亡方面的作用。材料/方法：对于三维培养，胰岛被封装在含有层粘连蛋白和胶原蛋白IV的胶原微球中，并嵌入海藻酸盐支架中一周。之后检查胰岛的活力、细胞凋亡、基因和蛋白质表达，包括 BAX、BCL2、活性 caspase-3 和胰岛素。此外，通过葡萄糖诱导的胰岛素和 C 肽分泌试验评估胰岛功能。

结果

我们的研究结果表明，设计的水凝胶支架通过减少活化的 caspase-3 和 TUNEL 阳性细胞显着提高了胰岛的活力。

结论

用藻酸盐水凝胶和胶原微球重建被破坏的基质可能是促进胰岛培养的有效步骤。