Engineered endocrine objects tolerate hypoxia in macroencapsulation devices and enable subcutaneous engraftment in diabetic mice

Engineered endocrine objects (EEOs) as small as ~47 m maintain >90% viability under 1% O2 for 24 hours, far exceeding native islet controls at 49%.

• Why it matters: Encapsulation can shield islets from immune attack but blocks vascularization, causing mass-transfer limits and central necrosis that undermine subcutaneous transplantation.
• What they did: Native islets were fragmented via mesh-induced methods and recovered in culture to form EEOs; viability was tested under hypoxia (1% O2, 24 hours), then rat EEOs were macroencapsulated in 0.5-mm-thick alginate devices and implanted subcutaneously in immunocompetent diabetic mice at 300 IEQ.
• The result: In the hypoxic subcutaneous space, 300 IEQ rat EEOs achieved glycemic control for over 5 weeks, with near-physiological glucose-challenge profiles and retrieved EEOs showing reduced central necrosis versus native islets.

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