Chitosan-assisted differentiation of porcine adipose tissue-derived stem cells into glucose-responsive insulin-secreting clusters

• Published in: PloS one 2017-03, Vol.12 (3), p.e0172922-e0172922
• Main Authors: Liu, Hui-Yu, Chen, Chih-Chien, Lin, Yuan-Yu, Chen, Yu-Jen, Liu, Bing-Hsien, Wong, Shiu-Chung, Wu, Cheng-Yu, Chang, Yun-Tsui, Chou, Han-Yi E, Ding, Shih-Torng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adipose tissue; Adipose Tissue - cytology; Adipose Tissue - drug effects; Animal models; Animal sciences; Animals; Biology and Life Sciences; Biomedical materials; Biotechnology; Body fat; Bone marrow; Cell culture; Cell Differentiation - drug effects; Chitin; Chitosan; Chitosan - pharmacology; Clusters; Culture Media; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes mellitus (insulin dependent); Differentiation; Dosage; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Fibroblasts; Glucose; Growth; Growth factors; Hogs; Homeobox; Innovations; Insulin; Insulin - metabolism; Insulin Secretion; Insurance claims; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metabolism; Pancreas; Physical Sciences; Properties; Proteins; Regenerative medicine; Research and Analysis Methods; Rodents; Stem cell transplantation; Stem cells; Stem Cells - cytology; Stem Cells - drug effects; Subcutaneous Fat - cytology; Swine; Tissue engineering; Transplantation; Zoology
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172922

The unique advantage of easy access and abundance make the adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) a promising system of multipotent cells for transplantation and regenerative medicine. Among the available sources, porcine ADSCs (pADSCs) deserve especial attention due to the close resemblance of human and porcine physiology, as well as for the upcoming availability of humanized porcine models. Here, we report on the isolation and conversion of pADSCs into glucose-responsive insulin-secreting cells. We used the stromal-vascular fraction of the dorsal subcutaneous adipose from 9-day-old male piglets to isolate pADSCs, and subjected the cells to an induction scheme for differentiation on chitosan-coated plates. This one-step procedure promoted differentiation of pADSCs into pancreatic islet-like clusters (PILC) that are characterized by the expression of a repertoire of pancreatic proteins, including pancreatic and duodenal homeobox (Pdx-1), insulin gene enhancer protein (ISL-1) and insulin. Upon glucose challenge, these PILC secreted high amounts of insulin in a dose-dependent manner. Our data also suggest that chitosan plays roles not only to enhance the differentiation potential of pADSCs, but also to increase the glucose responsiveness of PILCs. Our novel approach is, therefore, of great potential for transplantation-based amelioration of type 1 diabetes.