{
  "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.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "McGill University"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "A. Castro Rojas"
    },
    {
      "name": "J. Brassard"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. Billaud"
    },
    {
      "name": "F. Lemaire"
    },
    {
      "name": "R. Chen"
    },
    {
      "name": "H. E. Orimi"
    },
    {
      "name": "J. J. Tian"
    },
    {
      "name": "S. Paraskevas"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "C. A. Hoesli"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fq3ycfs6j21v9.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.09.12.751148",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.12.751148v1.full",
  "id": "fq3ycfs6j21v9",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.12.751148v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "bioengineering"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.12.751148v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-12",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fq3ycfs6j21v9.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:23:09Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.09.12.751148",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.12.751148v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:bioengineering",
      "subfield": "systems-synthetic"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Bridging scale-up to transplantation: pluripotent stem cell-derived pancreatic islet encapsulation in emulsion-generated high concentration alginate beads",
  "title_text": "Bridging scale-up to transplantation: pluripotent stem cell-derived pancreatic islet encapsulation in emulsion-generated high concentration alginate beads",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:23:09Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/fq3ycfs6j21v9",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}