Hyaluronic acid enhances cell survival of encapsulated insulin-producing cells in alginate-based microcapsules.

Pancreatic islet transplantation has proved to be a promising therapy for T1DM, in spite of the chronic immunosuppression required. Although cell microencapsulation technology represents an alternative to circumvent the immune system rejection of transplanted pancreatic islets, the environment provided by classical alginate microcapsules does not mimic the natural ECM, affecting the islet survival. Since hyaluronic acid, one of the major components of pancreatic ECM, is involved in cell adhesion and viability, we assessed the beneficial outcomes on encapsulated insulin-producing cells by the HA inclusion in alginate matrices. In this manuscript we describe how alginate-HA hybrid microcapsules enhance the viability of encapsulated cells, reducing early apoptosis percentage and decreasing membrane damage. A stable insulin production was maintained in encapsulated cells, not altering the response to a glucose stimulus. Therefore, we can conclude that the inclusion of HA within alginate microcapsules is beneficial for encapsulated insulin-producing cells, representing a step forward in the clinical translation of microcapsules technology for the treatment of T1DM.