--- title: "Scalable encapsulation of pluripotent stem cell-derived islets in high-concentration alginate bead" id: "biorxiv-13-bridging-scale-up-to-transplantation-pluripotent-stem-cell-derived-pancreatic" canonical_url: "https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/biorxiv-13-bridging-scale-up-to-transplantation-pluripotent-stem-cell-derived-pancreatic" content_type: "clinical_feed_article" specialty: "Endocrinology" source_name: "bioRxiv (Biomedical Preprints)" source_url: "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.12.751148v1?rss=1" published_at: "2026-09-18T12:00:00.000Z" evidence_level: "Verified Feed" license: "CC-BY-NC-4.0 / Informational Use" --- # Scalable encapsulation of pluripotent stem cell-derived islets in high-concentration alginate bead ## Provenance & Clinical Metadata - **Canonical URL:** https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/biorxiv-13-bridging-scale-up-to-transplantation-pluripotent-stem-cell-derived-pancreatic - **Specialty:** [Endocrinology](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/endocrinology.md) - **Primary Source:** bioRxiv (Biomedical Preprints) - **Source URL:** [Original Journal Publication](https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.12.751148v1?rss=1) - **Published At:** 2026-09-18T12:00:00.000Z - **Evidence Rating:** Verified Feed ## Executive GIST (TL;DR) - Pluripotent stem cell-derived pancreatic islet-like cell clusters (**SC-islets**) are a potential cell therapy for type 1 diabetes and can in principle be produced at scale in bioreactors. - Bioreactor suspension culture (stirred tank or vertical wheel) can cause hydrodynamic damage and cellular agglomeration during scale-up. - The authors previously developed an emulsion-based method to encapsulate murine beta cells in high-concentration **alginate** beads that improved graft survival; here they extend that approach to human SC-islets. - A full pipeline is presented for scalable microencapsulation of SC-islets followed by extended in vitro **bioreactor** culture and transplantation readiness. - Encapsulation of Stage 6 SC-islets prevented cellular agglomeration during 25 days of suspension culture and improved cell recovery to 91 ± 3% versus 60 ± 10% for non-encapsulated aggregates. - There were no significant differences in **glucose-stimulated insulin secretion** between encapsulated and non-encapsulated SC-islets in vitro. - Stage 7 SC-islets matured in the bioreactor were transplanted either as encapsulated islets via the intraperitoneal route or as free SC-islets under the kidney capsule. - Transplanted cells produced glucose-responsive **human C-peptide** and remained functional in vivo for up to 98 days. - The pipeline establishes a scalable encapsulation platform intended to reduce mechanical stress, limit agglomeration, preserve differentiation potential, and support maturation and delivery of SC-islet grafts. - Competing interests reported: several authors have board membership or equity relationships with Cellterix Biomedical Inc.; funding sources are disclosed. Details of some procedural parameters were not reported in the abstract. ## Clinical Analysis & Structured Key Points Bridging scale-up to transplantation: pluripotent stem cell-derived pancreatic islet encapsulation in emulsion-generated high concentration alginate beads | bioRxiv Skip to main content New Results Bridging scale-up to transplantation: pluripotent stem cell-derived pancreatic islet encapsulation in emulsion-generated high concentration alginate beads View ORCID Profile Arianna Castro Rojas , View ORCID Profile Jonathan Brassard , View ORCID Profile Marie Billaud , View ORCID Profile Florent Lemaire , View ORCID Profile Robert Chen , View ORCID Profile Hamid Ebrahimi Orimi , View ORCID Profile Jiyu Jessica Tian , View ORCID Profile Steven Paraskevas , View ORCID Profile Corinne A Hoesli doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.09.12.751148 Arianna Castro Rojas 1 McGill University; Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Arianna Castro Rojas Jonathan Brassard 1 McGill University; Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Jonathan Brassard Marie Billaud 1 McGill University; Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Marie Billaud Florent Lemaire 1 McGill University; Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Florent Lemaire Robert Chen 1 McGill University; Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Robert Chen Hamid Ebrahimi Orimi 1 McGill University; Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Hamid Ebrahimi Orimi Jiyu Jessica Tian 1 McGill University; Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Jiyu Jessica Tian Steven Paraskevas 2 McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Steven Paraskevas Corinne A Hoesli 1 McGill University; Find this author on Google Scholar Find this author on PubMed Search for this author on this site ORCID record for Corinne A Hoesli For correspondence: corinne.hoesli{at}mcgill.ca Abstract Info/History Metrics Supplementary material Data/Code Preview PDF Abstract Pluripotent stem cell-derived pancreatic islet-like cell clusters (SC-islets) have emerged as potential cellular therapy for type 1 diabetes. While SC-islets can theoretically be produced in bioreactors to meet transplantation needs of many recipients per batch, biomanufacturing and translational challenges remain. SC-islet can be cultured in suspension using stirred tank or vertical wheel bioreactors, but these can impart hydrodynamic damage and lead to cellular agglomeration, particularly upon scale-up. We previously described a robust emulsion-based process to encapsulate murine pancreatic beta cells in high-concentration alginate beads which improved graft survival in allogeneic recipients. Here, we present a full pipeline for scalable microencapsulated SC-islet biomanufacturing with extended in vitro bioreactor culture leading into transplantation. We hypothesized that encapsulation would prevent cellular agglomeration, reduce mechanical stress, and preserve differentiation potential during scale-up. Encapsulation of Stage 6 SC-islets prevented cellular agglomeration during extended suspension culture (25 days) and increased cell recovery (91 +/- 3%) compared with non-encapsulated aggregates (60 +/- 10%). No significant differences in glucose-stimulated insulin secretion were observed with vs without microencapsulation. Stage 7 SC-islets matured in the bioreactor were transplanted either as encapsulated islets via the intraperitoneal route or as free SC-islets under the kidney capsule, where they displayed glucose-responsive human C-peptide secretion and remained functional in vivo for up to 98 days. Overall, this work establishes a scalable, robust, transplantation-ready encapsulation platform that supports SC-islet maturation and delivery, providing a generalizable strategy for scaling and transplanting encapsulated organoid systems. Competing Interest Statement C.A.H reports a relationship with Cellterix Biomedical Inc. that includes: board membership and equity or stocks. J.A.B reports a relationship with Cellterix Biomedical Inc. that includes: board membership and equity or stocks. S.P reports a relationship with Cellterix Biomedical Inc. that includes: board membership. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Footnotes https://doi.org/10.5683/SP4/WTNR06 Funder Information Declared Diabetes Canada , OG-3-21-5598-CH Canadian Institutes of Health Research , CIHR PJT-205839 Breakthrough Type 1 Diabetes , 5-SRA-2021-1150-S-B Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada , RGPIN-2020-05877 Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Network & Cardiometabolic Health, Diabetes and Obesity – CMDO Research Network Canadian Institutes of Health Research , DT1-179094 Copyright The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license . Back to top Previous Next Posted September 18, 2026. Download PDF Supplementary Material Data/Code Email Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv. NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article. Your Email * Your Name * Send To * Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas. You are going to email the following Bridging scale-up to transplantation: pluripotent stem cell-derived pancreatic islet encapsulation in emulsion-generated high concentration alginate beads Message Subject (Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv Message Body (Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website. Your Personal Message CAPTCHA This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. Share Bridging scale-up to transplantation: pluripotent stem cell-derived pancreatic islet encapsulation in emulsion-generated high concentration alginate beads Arianna Castro Rojas , Jonathan Brassard , Marie Billaud , Florent Lemaire , Robert Chen , Hamid Ebrahimi Orimi , Jiyu Jessica Tian , Steven Paraskevas , Corinne A Hoesli bioRxiv 2026.09.12.751148; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.09.12.751148 Share This Article: Copy Citation Tools Bridging scale-up to transplantation: pluripotent stem cell-derived pancreatic islet encapsulation in emulsion-generated high concentration alginate beads Arianna Castro Rojas , Jonathan Brassard , Marie Billaud , Florent Lemaire , Robert Chen , Hamid Ebrahimi Orimi , Jiyu Jessica Tian , Steven Paraskevas , Corinne A Hoesli bioRxiv 2026.09.12.751148; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.09.12.751148 Citation Manager Formats BibTeX Bookends EasyBib EndNote (tagged) EndNote 8 (xml) Medlars Mendeley Papers RefWorks Tagged Ref Manager RIS Zotero Tweet Widget Facebook Like Google Plus One Subject Areas All Articles Animal Behavior and Cognition (8010) Biochemistry (18733) Bioengineering (14876) Bioinformatics (44392) Biophysics (22588) Cancer Biology (19713) Cell Biology (26896) Clinical Trials (138) Developmental Biology (13961) Ecology (21001) Epidemiology (2067) Evolutionary Biology (25436) Genetics (16162) Genomics (23498) Immunology (18693) Microbiology (42451) Molecular Biology (18054) Neuroscience (93419) Paleontology (700) Pathology (2977) Pharmacology and Toxicology (5092) Physiology (8111) Plant Biology (15997) Scientific Communication and Education (2095) Synthetic Biology (4559) Systems Biology (10233) Zoology (2389) ## Related Clinical Research - [INSULIN Act: Bipartisan House Bill to Cap Insulin Cost and Improve Access](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/endocrine-news-0-endocrine-society-applauds-introduction-of-bipartisan-bill-to-address-insulin.md) - [Undiagnosed type 2 diabetes presenting as DKA with hypertriglyceridemia-induced acute pancreatitis](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/cmaj-1-undiagnosed-type-2-diabetes-presenting-as-diabetic-ketoacidosis-with.md) - [Insulet and Calm Partner to Offer Mindfulness Tools for People Living with Diabetes](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/endocrine-news-0-pharma-friday-july-17-2026.md) - [SGLT2 Inhibitors and Rheumatoid Arthritis Risk in Type 2 Diabetes: Summary of Reported Emulated Ta](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/frontiers-in-immunology-19-the-association-between-sglt2-inhibitors-and-rheumatoid-arthritis-risk-in-type.md) - [FDA Approves New Indication for Tzield (teplizumab) for Certain Pediatric Patients with Recently Diagnosed Stage 3 Type 1 Diabetes](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/fda-news-releases-8-fda-approves-new-indication-for-tzield-teplizumab-for-certain-pediatric.md) ## Navigation - [← Back to Endocrinology Feed](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/endocrinology.md) - [← All Clinical Specialties](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed.md) ## Medical & Regulatory Disclaimer > [!CAUTION] > MedicHelpline content is structured for research, educational, and professional discovery purposes. It does not constitute individual medical advice, clinical diagnosis, or treatment recommendations. > Always verify dosing, contraindications, and regulatory alerts against official product labeling and primary regulatory sources before clinical decision-making.