Porous microcapsules encapsulating β cells generated by microfluidic electrospray technology for diabetes treatment

Abstract Diabetes mellitus is becoming increasingly prevalent worldwide and needs effective clinical treatment methods. β-Cell replacement therapy has become a safe alternative for diabetes treatment in recent years, and encapsulation methods have been proposed to facilitate this type of therapy. Here, we used coaxial microfluidic electrospray technology to generate microcapsules allowing high cell viability (>90%) with porous alginate shells and β cell-containing cores in less than half an hour. Benefitting from microfluidic electrospray, the sizes of the generated microcapsules were adjustable. The biocompatible porous hydrogel shell not only protected β cells from immune rejection but also allowed the exchange of small molecular nutrients during transplantation, and the liquid core guaranteed the high viability of the encapsulated cells. This constructed living cell biosystem further demonstrated its potential as an artificial islet after transplantation into the omental pouches of diabetic mice to control blood glucose levels and thus treat diabetes. We consider that this system, with an elaborate structure and an abundance of highly viable encapsulated β cells to improve treatment performance, could be applied in a wide range of clinical situations.