CULTURED PANCREAS ISLETS

• US 20120107936A1
• Filed: 10/21/2011
• Published: 05/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lifeline Scientific, Inc. (Shanghai Genext Medical Technology Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Cell & Tissue Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: TAYLOR, Michael J., BAICU, Simona C.
• Granted Patent: US 9,963,679 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 435/404
• CPC Class Codes: C12N 2500/00 Specific components of cell culture medium
• CPC Class Codes: C12N 5/0677 Three-dimensional culture, tissue culture or organ culture; Encapsulated cells

Abstract

Methods of preparing pancreatic islets that may comprise pancreatites are provided. The methods may involve subjecting a pancreas and/or pieces thereof to disruption, such as, for example, an enzyme digest, and seeding the recovered cellular product comprising islets in a culture medium comprising at least a detectable amount of endocrine tissue and/or exocrine tissue.

Claims

1. A method of preparing pancreatic islets, comprising:

culturing pancreatic islets ex vivo in a culturing medium in the presence of an exocrine substance.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising isolating the islets from pancreas tissue by treating the pancreas tissue with a digestive enzyme.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the islets comprise immature islets.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the culture medium is present on a membrane.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the membrane is a gas permeable membrane.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the culture medium is present in a polycarbonate gas permeable silicone membrane culture flask.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the islets are present in an amount greater than about 20% of the total area of exocrine tissue and endocrine tissue present in the culture medium, wherein the amount of islets is calculated by the ratio of the area encompassed by the islets to the total area of exocrine tissue and endocrine tissue present in the culture medium.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the islets are present in an amount greater than about 30% of the total area of exocrine tissue and endocrine tissue present in the culture medium.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the islets are present in an amount greater than about 40% of the total area of exocrine tissue and endocrine tissue present in the culture medium.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the islets are present in an amount less than about 70% of the total area of exocrine tissue and endocrine tissue present in the culture medium.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the islets are present in an amount less than about 60% of the total area of exocrine tissue and endocrine tissue present in the culture medium.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the islets are present in an amount less than about 50% of the total area of exocrine tissue and endocrine tissue present in the culture medium.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the exocrine substance is present in an amount greater than 60% of the total area of exocrine tissue and endocrine tissue present in the culture medium, wherein the amount of exocrine substance is calculated by the ratio of the area encompassed by the exocrine substance to the total area of exocrine tissue and endocrine tissue present in the culture medium.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the exocrine substance is present in an amount greater than about 70% of the total area of exocrine tissue and endocrine tissue present in the culture medium.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the exocrine substance is present in an amount greater than about 80% of the total area of exocrine tissue and endocrine tissue present in the culture medium.

16. The method of claim 7, wherein the exocrine substance is present in an amount less than 50% of the total area of exocrine tissue and endocrine tissue present in the culture medium, wherein the amount of exocrine substance is calculated by the ratio of the area encompassed by the exocrine substance to the total area of exocrine tissue and endocrine tissue present in the culture medium.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the exocrine substance is present in an amount less than about 40% of the total area of exocrine tissue and endocrine tissue present in the culture medium.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the exocrine substance is present in an amount less than about 30% of the total area of exocrine tissue and endocrine tissue present in the culture medium.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the islets were obtained from donor selected from the group consisting of a non-adult donor, a juvenile donor, a mammal donor, a human donor, a porcine donor, a bovine donor, and a primate donor.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the exocrine substance is obtained from a donor pancreas.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the exocrine substance is obtained from a donor pancreas that was not the source of the islets.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the exocrine substance is synthetic.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the exocrine substance and the islets are obtained from a single donor pancreas.

24. The method of claim 2, wherein after the islets are isolated from the pancreas tissue, the islets are combined with the exocrine substance.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the exocrine substance and the islets are obtained from a single donor pancreas.

26. A composition comprising pancreatites formed by combining isolated pancreatic islets with an isolated exocrine substance ex vivo.

27. A method for preparing pancreatites, comprising:

treating donor tissue comprising pancreatic islets with an enzyme digest to obtain cellular product comprising islets; and

seeding the cellular product comprising islets into a culture medium in the presence of an exocrine substance.