The Team
Professor Gudmund Skjak-Braek is a professor in biochemistry at the department of biotechnology at NTNU, and director of the Norwegian Biopolymer Laboratory (NOBIPOL). His research comprises a broad field covering membrane transport, bioenergetics, biosynthesis of polysaccharides, NMR-spectroscopy and polymer statistics, microorganisms as well as animal and plant cells. For the last 20 years his research has been focused on the structure-function relationships in biopolymers (alginate). This has lead to a broader understanding of alginates which has been utilized in gel technology and immobilization of cells, and in producing biocompatible materials and artificial organs. He has published more than 130 papers in international peer-reviewed journals. He is the holder of 15 international patents/patent applications and has over 100 other publications, including contributions at scientific meetings, lectures, chapters in books and reviews.
Dr. Berit L. Strand is employed at department of biotechnology at NTNU as a scientific researcher financed through the Norwegian Diabetes Association with the aid of funds from the Norwegian Foundation for Health and Rehabilitation. She did her thesis work on enzymatically modified alginates for use in microcapsules. She has gained experience in animal models and pancreatic islet characterization throughout her post doc at the University of Alberta, Edmonton and at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Yrr Morch, in the final year of her PhD, is employed at the department of biotechnology at NTNU with funding from the Norwegian Research Council and will be a Chicago Project postdoc fellow starting in the spring of 2007. She has worked with improvement and development of alginate microcapsules and with characterization of alginate materials for many years.
The Study
As part of the Chicago Project, the Trondheim Bioencapsulation Group is contributing with encapsulation of human islets from Chicago. The capsule developed for this purpose, called the Trondheim Alginate Microcapsule (TAM), has so far been used in the following studies:
• Islet function has been tested after shipment from Chicago before and after encapsulation in TAM. This has been done by both in vitro studies at the laboratories at NTNU and in vivo studies in nude mice at UIC
• Evaluation of TAM as an immune barrier using encapsulated human islets transplanted in Balb/c mice (xenotransplantation)
• Evaluation of encapsulated human islets in TAM with respect to both function and immune protection in non-human primates
The most important conclusions from these studies have so far been:
• Intercontinental shipment does not affect human islet function
• Encapsulation of human islets in TAM does not affect islet function
• Encapsulated human islets can be cultured for extended periods of time (4-5 months)
• TAM works well as an immune barrier in a xenotransplantation model (human islets in Balb/c mice)
• Encapsulated human islets function in nude mice for over 200 days
• TAM works as an immune barrier for two weeks after transplantation in non-human primates. The cause of graft failure is not clear and is being explored