Tissue-engineered human pancreatic cells successfully treat diabetic mice

Tissue-engineered human pancreatic cells successfully treat diabetic mice

Self-condensation process for cells generates vascularized organ tissues for transplant.

  • Researchers tissue-engineered human pancreatic islets in a laboratory that develop a circulatory system, secrete hormones like insulin and successfully treat sudden-onset type 1 diabetes in transplanted mice.

  • The scientists use a new bioengineering process they developed called a self-condensation cell culture.

  • The technology helps nudge medical science closer to one day growing human organ tissues from a person’s own cells for regenerative therapy.


    Yoshinobu Takahashi, Keisuke Sekine, Tatsuya Kin, Takanori Takebe, Hideki Taniguchi’. Self-Condensation Culture Enables Vascularization of Tissue Fragments for Efficient Therapeutic Transplantation. Cell Reports, 2018; 23 (6): 1620-1629 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.03.123