Insulin replacement therapy using human iPS-derived islet-like spheroid

Diabetes mellitus is caused by the shortage of insulin as well as overproduction of glucagon which elevates blood glucose levels. Islet transplantation is currently applied to the severe type I diabetes DD mellitus patients who suffer from frequent hypoglycemic attack. However, one of the problems of islet transplantation is donor shortage. To solve this problem, we paid attention to the human iPS cells and we developed efficient generation of human islet-like cells from them recently. Another problem of islet transplantation is that recipients have to take immunosuppressants for a long time to avoid rejection reaction. If we encapsulate islets properly, transplanted islets can escape the attack of immune cells. We confirmed that human iPS-derived islet-like spheroids encapsulated into alginate fiber ameliorated hyperglycemia in diabetic model mice when they were transplanted intraperitoneously. For the clinical application, we need further improvement of devices.