A Novel Cell Culture Platform for In-Vitro Enhancement of Oxygen Delivery Leads to Improved Physiological Function of Isolated Islets of Langerhans

摘要

In this study, in-vitro experiments were performed on isolated human islets of Langerhans from cadaveric donors. Aliquots of human islet preparations were plated in either conventional polystyrene Petri dishes or perfluroo-carbon/polydimethylsiloxane (PFC/PDMS) devices both at standard (142 mmHg) and physiological core oxygen concentrations, which required 9-12% oxygen (70-80 mm Hg). Twenty-four hours after plating, islets were analyzed for cell loss, glucose response factor and oxygen consumption rate, all indices of beta cell function and viability. Our data show that islets cultured in PFC/PDMS platforms perform significantly better than those kept in regular conditions. Islet survival and function were maximal when adjusting the environmental oxygen concentration to better target the islet physiological range on PFC/PDMS platforms. However, low oxygen concentrations in standard culture vessels resulted in poor function and viability, due to the suboptimal mode of oxygen delivery.