Title:The Effects of Ionic Gelation- Vibrational Jet Flow Technique in Fabrication of Microcapsules Incorporating β-cell: Applications in Diabetes
VOLUME: 13 ISSUE: 1
Author(s):Armin Mooranian, Rebecca Negrulj and Hani Al-Salami
Affiliation:Senior Lecturer of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Curtin University, Australia.
Keywords:Diabetes, artificial cell microencapsulation, NIT-1 cells, bile acid, biomaterials.
Abstract:Background: In recent studies, we have incorporated bile acid and polyelectrolytes into
pancreatic β-cell microcapsules and examined their cell viability and microcapsule morphology
using various encapsulating methods.
Objective: This study aimed to incorporate 3 colloids; ultrasonic gel (USG; 1%), polystyrenic sulphate
(PSS; 0.1%) and polyallylamine (PAA; 3%) and ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA; 4%) with the
polymer sodium alginate (SA; 1.2%) and the copolymer poly-L-ornithine (PLO; 1%), and using a refined
vibrational jet-flow microencapsulating method, test the microcapsule properties, and cell viability
without or with UDCA.
Method: The pancreatic β-cells NIT-1 were encapsulated using concentric nozzles and a refined
method using voltage > 600 mv and frequency of 1750 Hz with syringe flow of 1.5 ml/min (core)
and formulation solution of 2.1 ml/min, with a mixture of SA, PLO, USG, PSS and PAA without
UDCA (control) or with UDCA (test). Both formulations and microcapsules were examined for surface
composition and thermal and chemical biocompatibilities. The microencapsulated cells were examined
for bioenergetics and production of inflammatory biomarkers. UDCA distribution within the
microcapsules was also examined.
Results: Using our method, viability remained low after the addition of PSS, PAA and USG, while
the incorporation of UDCA enhanced cell viability, and thermal stability was maintained.
Conclusion: Our refined microencapsulating method, when incorporating polystyrenic sulphate,
polyallylamine, the gel and UDCA at 0.1:3:1:4 ratio respectively, produced stable microcapsules
suggesting potential applications in cell microencapsulation and diabetes treatment.
