• The benefit of surface coating with adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells on the survival and function of pancreatic islets
  • Mona Navaei-Nigjeh,1,* Marzieh Daniali,2 Soheyl Mirzababaei,3
    1. Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center (PSRC), The Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (TIPS), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
    2. Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center (PSRC), The Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (TIPS), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
    3. Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center (PSRC), The Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (TIPS), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran


  • Introduction: Pancreatic islets, especially the large islets have poor survival rates in culture. Co-culturing with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) has been shown to improve islet survival and function. However, most co-culture studies have been comprised of MSC surrounding islets in the media. The present study aimed to develop technique for surface coating of islets with adipose tissue-derived MSCs (AT-MSCs) in order to investigate survival and function such bioengineered islets.
  • Methods: Pancreatic islets and AT-MSCs isolated from Wistar rats were incubated at 37°C for 1 h during gentle shaking and then cultured without shaking for 4 days. The survival and function of islets were measured morphologically and by analyzing insulin secretion in response to glucose challenge.
  • Results: Coating pancreatic islets with AT-MSCs showed improved islet survival after 4 days of culture. In addition, AT-MSCs-coated islets revealed preserved function with higher insulin secretion compared with control-native islets.
  • Conclusion: We conclude that bioengineering of islets with AT-MSCs may be useful for potentiating pancreatic islets’ functionality and feasibility. Accordingly, the technique presented allows for pretreatment of donor islets with recipient-derived MSCs as a means of improving islet engraftment.
  • Keywords: Adipose tissue, Islet transplantation, Mesenchymal stem cells, Pancreatic islets, Surface coating