Vascularized regenerative biomaterials for medical devices and cell therapy

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While islet transplantation is a promising treatment for the 1% of Canadians who live with insulin dependent (type 1)diabetes, the majority of islets (perhaps 60%) in current protocols are lost almost immediately upon transplantation. This isdue to inflammatory responses and the lack of blood vessels near the islet which impairs islet survival and function. We havediscovered a unique material that induces the formation of blood vessels and we propose to use this material (as a coatingor as an degradable gel) to generate a medical device (particularly a cell delivery device) that is more functional than iscurrently attainable with conventional materials. The successful use of implantable medical devices is built on thebiocompatibility of inert biomaterials that generate a fibrotic response which isolates the implant from the patient and ensuresthe device is safe. However, this fibrosis precludes the successful use of other devices such as glucose sensors or cellpouches for cell delivery (especially pancreatic islets for diabetes). In this proposal the focus is on a unique Cell PouchSystem produced by an Ontario company, Sernova which is being developed for pancreatic islet delivery to treat diabetes.The unique vascular regenerating biomaterial, based on MAA (methacrylic acid) is expected to enhance vascularization inand around the pouch and so accelerate the ability of islets to respond to elevated glucose levels in diabetic patients.Furthermore the MAA materials (and particularly the degradable gel) are expected to simplify the clinical use (and efficacy ofthe Cell Pouch because it is expected that the device can be implanted and loaded with islets in one step.