Development and characterization of islet-derived mesenchymal stem cells from clinical grade neonatal porcine cryopreserved islets.

BACKGROUND: Porcine tissues display a great potential as donor tissues in xenotransplantation, including cell therapy. Cryopreserving clinical grade porcine tissue and using it as a source for establishing therapeutic cells should be advantageous for transportation and scheduled manufacturing of MSCs. Of note, we previously performed encapsulated porcine islet transplantation for the treatment of unstable type 1 diabetes mellitus in the clinical setting. It has been reported that co-transplantation of islets and Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) enhanced efficacy. We assume that co-transplantation of porcine islets and porcine islet-derived MSCs could improve the efficacy of clinical islet xenotransplantation. METHODS: MSCs were established from fresh and cryopreserved non-clinical grade neonatal porcine islets and bone marrow (termed non-clinical grade npISLET-MSCs and npBM-MSCs, respectively), as well as from cryopreserved clinical grade neonatal porcine islets (termed clinical grade npISLET-MSCs). Subsequently, the cell proliferation rate and diameter, surface marker expression, adipogenesis, osteogenesis, and colony-forming efficiency of the MSCs were assessed. RESULTS: Cell proliferation rate and diameter did not differ between clinical grade and non-clinical grade npISLET-MSCs. However, non-clinical grade npBM-MSCs were significantly shorter and smaller than both npISLET-MSCs (p < 0.05). MSC markers (CD29, CD44, and CD90) were strongly expressed in clinical grade npISLET-MSCs and non-clinical grade npISLET-MSCs and npBM-MSCs. The expression of MSC-negative markers CD31, CD34, and SLA-DR was low in all MSCs. Clinical grade npISLET-MSCs derived from adipose and osteoid tissues were positive for Oil Red and alkaline phosphatase staining. The results of colony-forming assay were not significantly different between clinical grade npISLET-MSCs and non-clinical grade npBM-MSCs. CONCLUSION: The method described herein was successful in of developing clinical grade npISLET-MSCs from cryopreserved islets. Cryopreserved clinical grade porcine islets could be an excellent stable source of MSCs for cell therapy.

The pharmacokinetics of porcine C-peptide after intraperitoneal injection.

BACKGROUND: Previously, we have demonstrated that there were very low C-Peptide concentrations and normal blood glucose levels when we transplanted encapsulated islets in the abdominal cavity of diabetic nude mice. In addition, the C-peptide concentration in the ascites fluid of the peritoneal cavity was 40 times higher than in the peripheral blood. In this study, we investigated the pharmacokinetics of intraperitoneal porcine C-peptide. METHODS: To assess the pharmacokinetics of porcine C-peptide, a synthesized porcine C-peptide solution was injected into the peripheral circulation through the tail vein or into the peritoneal cavity in rats at low or high doses of either 200 or 2000 pmol/kg, respectively. Arterial blood samples were collected at time intervals of 1-120 minutes after injection to calculate the terminal elimination half-life (t1/2 ) and area under the time-concentration curve (AUC0-t ). RESULTS: After intraperitoneal C-peptide injection, the highest porcine C-peptide concentration in peripheral blood was only one-fortieth compared to after intravenous injection. The AUC0-t for the intraperitoneal injection was 78% at the low dose and only 39% at the high dose compared to the intravenous injection. This finding indicates that C-peptide remains in the abdominal cavity when intraperitoneally transplanted islets release C-peptide via high glucose stimulation. CONCLUSIONS: Porcine C-peptide injected into a peritoneal cavity slowly and incompletely entered peripheral circulation, which resulted in very low concentration in peripheral blood.

Effects of encapsulated porcine islets on glucose and C-peptide concentrations in diabetic nude mice 6 months after intraperitoneal transplantation.

BACKGROUND: In patients with type 1 diabetes, allogeneic islet transplantation can provide normal HbA1c concentrations, but it requires immunosuppression. Transplanting encapsulated islets into the peritoneal cavity could reduce or eliminate the need for immunosuppression. One of the uncertain features of intraperitoneal islet transplantation is the difficulty of measuring C-peptide concentrations in peripheral blood, which is often used for the marker of islet function. We hypothesized that secreted C-peptide from intraperitoneally transplanted islets was mostly consumed in the peritoneal cavity, which resulted in low C-peptide concentrations in peripheral blood. METHODS: In each of two experiments, encapsulated neonatal porcine islets were intraperitoneally transplanted into four nude mice with streptozotocin-induced diabetes. Three diabetic nude mice without transplanted islets were used as diabetic controls, and three untreated healthy nude mice were used as normal controls. Islet functions were monitored for 2 months in the first experiment and 6 months in the second experiment. Encapsulated islets were retrieved after each experiment and evaluated by fluorescein diacetate/propidium iodide tests for the viability and static glucose-stimulated insulin release tests for the function. C-peptide concentrations from the blood and from the intraperitoneal cavity at 6 months were compared. RESULTS: In both experiments, diabetes was reversed in all transplanted mice, and oral glucose tolerance test showed improved profiles. In general, retrieved islets were viable and functional. However, blood porcine C-peptide concentrations were low at both 2 and 6 months, and concentrations in the ascites of peritoneal cavity were 40 times as high as those in blood. CONCLUSIONS: The peripheral blood sampling for c-peptide, though highly informative in vascularized grafts, may not be the primary tool for monitoring the health and function of encapsulated products when transplanted into intraperitoneal cavity. Our results might explain the clinical feature of the low C-peptide blood concentrations after successful intraperitoneal encapsulated islet transplantation.