Encapsulation of islets of Langerhans may represent a way to transplant islets in the absence of immunosuppression. Traditional methods for encapsulation lead to diffusional limitations imposed by the size of the capsules (600-1,000 μm in diameter), which results in core hypoxia and delayed insulin secretion in response to glucose. Moreover, the large volume of encapsulated cells does not allow...

Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is associated with a specific destruction of the insulin-producing beta-cells in the islets of Langerhans. Several factors, e.g. genetic, environmental and immunologial, may be involved in the etiology and pathogenesis of T1DM. Autoreactive T- and B-lymphocytes, together with macrophages infiltrate the islets during the pathogenesis, releasing...

Transplantation therapy for diabetes is limited by unavailability of donor organs and outcomes complicated by immunosuppressive drug toxicity. Xenotransplantation is a strategy to overcome supply problems. Implantation of tissue obtained early during embryogenesis is a way to reduce transplant immunogenicity. Insulin-producing cells originating from embryonic pig pancreas obtained very early fo...

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is an autoimmune disorder in which the insulin-producing b-cells of the pancreatic islets of Langerhans are selectively destroyed. Transplantation of allogeneic islets offers a novel therapeutic approach for type 1 diabetic patients. Primary obstacles to the successful outcome of this treatment are loss of the islets occurring first during the isolation procedure and th...

Strategies for restoring beta-cell function in diabetic patients would be greatly aided by the ability to target genes, proteins, or small molecules specifically to these cells. Furthermore, the ability to direct imaging agents specifically to beta-cells would facilitate diagnosis and monitoring of disease progression. To isolate ligands that can home to beta-cells in vivo, we have panned a ran...

It has previously been shown by biosynthetic labeling studies that glucagon is synthesized in mammalian islets via an 18-kDa precursor, proglucagon, that during processing gives rise to glucagon and a secreted peptide of 10 kDa (the major proglucagon fragment, MPGF). We have now developed a simple procedure for the isolation of this peptide from rat pancreatic islets and have characterized it m...