J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
J Vasc Res. 2022;59(4):229-238. doi: 10.1159/000523925. Epub 2022 Apr 22.
Revascularization of transplanted pancreatic islets is critical for survival and treatment of type 1 diabetes. Questions concerning how islets influence local microvascular networks and how networks form connections with islets remain understudied and motivate the need for new models that mimic the complexity of real tissue. Recently, our laboratory established the rat mesentery culture model as a tool to investigate cell dynamics involved in microvascular growth. An advantage is the ability to observe blood vessels, lymphatics, and immune cells. The objective of this study was to establish the rat mesentery tissue culture model as a useful tool to investigate islet tissue integration. DiI-labeled islets were seeded onto adult rat mesentery tissues and cultured for up to 3 days. Live lectin labeling enabled time-lapse observation of vessel growth. During culture, DiI-positive islets remained intact. Radial lectin-positive capillary sprouts with DiI labeling were observed to form from islets and connect to host networks. Lectin-positive vessels from host networks were also seen growing toward islets. PECAM and NG2 labeling confirmed that vessels sprouting from islets contained endothelial cells and pericytes. Our results introduce the rat mesentery culture model as a platform for investigating dynamics associated with the initial revascularization of transplanted islets.
移植胰岛的再血管化对于 1 型糖尿病的治疗和生存至关重要。关于胰岛如何影响局部微血管网络以及网络如何与胰岛建立连接的问题仍未得到充分研究，这促使我们需要建立新的模型来模拟真实组织的复杂性。最近，我们实验室建立了大鼠肠系膜培养模型，作为研究与微血管生长相关的细胞动力学的工具。该模型的一个优势是能够观察血管、淋巴管和免疫细胞。本研究的目的是建立大鼠肠系膜组织培养模型，作为研究胰岛组织整合的有用工具。将 DiI 标记的胰岛接种到成年大鼠肠系膜组织上，并培养长达 3 天。活体凝集素标记可实现对血管生长的延时观察。在培养过程中，DiI 阳性胰岛保持完整。观察到带有 DiI 标记的放射状凝集素阳性毛细血管芽从胰岛中形成并与宿主网络连接。也观察到来自宿主网络的凝集素阳性血管向胰岛生长。PECAM 和 NG2 标记证实，从胰岛中长出的血管含有内皮细胞和周细胞。我们的研究结果表明，大鼠肠系膜培养模型是研究移植胰岛初始再血管化相关动力学的平台。
