Islet transplantation is a promising treatment for type 1 diabetes (T1D), yet the low donor pool, poor islet engraftment, and life-long immunosuppression prevent it from becoming the standard of care. Human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived pancreatic cells could eliminate donor shortages, but interventions to improve graft survival are needed. Here, we enhanced subcutaneous engraftment by employing a unique vascularization strategy based on ready-made microvessels (MVs) isolated from the adipose tissue. This resulted in improved cell survival and effective glucose response of both human islets and hESC-derived pancreatic cells, which ameliorated preexisting diabetes in three mouse models of T1D.

胰岛移植是治疗 1 型糖尿病 (T1D) 的一种有前途的治疗方法，但供体库低、胰岛移植不良和终生免疫抑制使其无法成为治疗标准。人类胚胎干细胞 (hESC) 衍生的胰腺细胞可以消除供体短缺，但需要采取干预措施来提高移植物的存活率。在这里，我们通过采用基于从脂肪组织中分离出来的现成微血管 (MV) 的独特血管化策略来增强皮下植入。这导致人类胰岛和 hESC 衍生胰腺细胞的细胞存活率和有效葡萄糖反应得到改善，从而改善了三种 T1D 小鼠模型中先前存在的糖尿病。