Engineering of a Perfusion Chamber for High-Density Cultures of Endocrine Pancreatic Islets for Insulin Production

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

In 2010, the International Diabetes Federation estimated that 285 millions people worldwide have diabetes. This includes more than three millions Canadians, and these numbers are increasing dramatically owing to a number of factors. The financial burden on people and on the Canadian healthcare system is enormous ($13 billion/year). The loss of insulin-producing cells (beta cells) has been observed in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Pancreatic islet cell transplantation can restore the required mass of functional beta-cells to achieve normoglycemia in diabetics. However, this strategy has encountered many problems including the unavailability of a standard islet transplant protocol, insufficient islet yields after isolation and beta-cell apoptosis following transplantation. The LONG-TERM PROGRAM OBJECTIVE is to develop a chamber to support a high-density culture of endocrine pancreatic islets for insulin production.