The Roles of Collagen in Islet Transplantation

Islet transplantation is a cellular replacement therapy for severe diabetes mellitus. Although the clinical outcome of islet transplant has been improving, the transplant efficacy of this treatment is not superior to that of pancreatic organ transplantation, a similar transplant therapy. Various factors have been characterized as ‘islet transplantation specific’, which includes lack of revascularization and ischemia, innate inflammation, or autoimmunity, affect the therapeutic outcome of this treatment. Among them, the impairment of islets by digestion of extracellular matrix (ECM) via the islet isolation and transplantation process is one of the major factors to avoid islet engraftment. The islet is composed of endocrine cells aggregated by ECMs. Particularly, collagen is a target for the digestion of the pancreas for islet isolation. Furthermore, collagen improves endocrine functions, survival, and proliferation. In this study, we review the importance of collagen in islet transplantation.