A Tissue-Engineered Construct Based on a Decellularized Scaffold and the Islets of Langerhans: A Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Model

Producing a tissue-engineered pancreas based on a tissue-specific scaffold from a decellularized pancreas, imitating the natural pancreatic tissue microenvironment and the islets of Langerhans, is one of the approaches to treating patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The aim of this work was to investigate the ability of a fine-dispersed tissue-specific scaffold (DP scaffold) from decellularized human pancreas fragments to support the islets' survival and insulin-producing function when injected in a streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat model. The developed decellularization protocol allows us to obtain a scaffold with a low DNA content (33 [26; 38] ng/mg of tissue, <i>p</i> < 0.05) and with the preservation of GAGs (0.92 [0.84; 1.16] µg/mg, <i>p</i> < 0.05) and fibrillar collagen (273.7 [241.2; 303.0] µg/mg, <i>p</i> < 0.05). Rat islets of Langerhans were seeded in the obtained scaffolds. The rats with stable T1DM were treated by intraperitoneal injections of rat islets alone and islets seeded on the DP scaffold. The blood glucose level was determined for 10 weeks with a histological examination of experimental animals' pancreas. A more pronounced decrease in the recipient rats' glycemia was detected after comparing the islets seeded on the DP scaffold with the control injection (by 71.4% and 51.2%, respectively). It has been shown that the DP scaffold facilitates a longer survival and the efficient function of pancreatic islets in vivo and can be used to engineer a pancreas.