Perfusion-decellularized pancreas as a natural 3D scaffold for pancreatic tissue and whole organ engineering

摘要

Diabetes mellitus is a global disease with immense economic and social burden. According to the World Health Organization, at least 285 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes [1 ]. While pharmaceutical interventions and insulin supplementation are the most commonplace treatment of diabetes, these do not represent a cure and can potentially lead to long term complications [2]. Advances in tissue engineering have facilitated the development of replacement tissues or organs for the treatment of injured or degenerative soft tissue [3e5]. The development of a bioengineered pancreas by appropriate combination of cells, biomaterial scaffolds and biologically active molecules could provide an alternative avenue for diabetes therapy.