Modeling of an Oxygenation-Aided 3D Culture for Functional Beta-Cell Expansion

S. Jin[1], J. McReynolds[1], X. Li[2], J. Guan[2]
[1]Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
[2]Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
Published in 2013

Currently, researchers are looking for ways to mass-produce biologically functional pancreatic beta cells in vitro because of the shortage of donor tissue needed for diabetes cell therapy. The beta cells will become hypoxic if their high oxygen demands are not met. We hypothesized that the biological function of beta cells can be improved if they are cultured in a 3D collagen scaffold, which mimics physiologic conditions in vivo and by using an oxygen-producing biomaterial to meet oxygen demands. To test this hypothesis we used COMSOL Multiphysics® software to simulate and optimize the oxygenation of our culture environment.

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