Insulin production from hiPSC‐derived pancreatic cells in a novel wicking matrix bioreactor. Issue 7 (2nd May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Amini, Nooshin; Paluh, Janet L.; Xie, Yubing; Saxena, Vinit; Sharfstein, Susan T.
• Is Part Of: Biotechnology and bioengineering. Volume 117:Issue 7(2020)
• Page Start: 2247
• Page End: 2261
• Publication Date: 2020-05-02
• Subjects: bioreactor -- cell therapy -- diabetes -- insulin -- iPSCs; Biotechnology -- Periodicals; Bioengineering -- Periodicals; 660.6
• DOI: 10.1002/bit.27359
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0006-3592

Abstract

Abstract: Clinical use of pancreatic β islets for regenerative medicine applications requires mass production of functional cells. Current technologies are insufficient for large‐scale production in a cost‐efficient manner. Here, we evaluate advantages of a porous cellulose scaffold and demonstrate scale‐up to a wicking matrix bioreactor as a platform for culture of human endocrine cells. Scaffold modifications were evaluated in a multiwell platform to find the optimum surface condition for pancreatic cell expansion followed by bioreactor culture to confirm suitability. Preceding scale‐up, cell morphology, viability, and proliferation of primary pancreatic cells were evaluated. Two optimal surface modifications were chosen and evaluated further for insulin secretion, cell morphology, and viable cell density for human‐induced pluripotent stem cell‐derived pancreatic cells at different stages of differentiation. Scale‐up was accomplished with uncoated, amine‐modified cellulose in a miniature bioreactor, and insulin secretion and cell metabolic profiles were determined for 13 days. We achieved 10‐fold cell expansion in the bioreactor along with a significant increase in insulin secretion compared with cultures on tissue culture plastic. Our findings define a new method for expansion of pancreatic cells a on wicking matrix cellulose platform to advance cell therapy biomanufacturing for diabetes. Abstract : Generating large numbers of differentiated cells will be critical for regenerative medicine applications. In this study, we evaluated the ability of a novel, cellulosic, wicking matrix bioreactor to support growth and differentiation of hiPSC‐derived pancreatic progenitors. After optimizing matrix surface chemistry, cell morphology, metabolic profile and insulin production were evaluated. We envision that differentiated cells may be harvested from the bioreactor and used as a cell source for development of cell therapies for diabetes patients.