Effects of short-term hypoxia on a transformed cell-based bioartificial pancreatic construct

Hypoxia is an adverse condition that can jeopardize the function of a bioartificial pancreatic construct. In this study we have investigated the effects of short-term hypoxic exposure (up to 24 h) on the bioenergetic status, metabolism, and insulin secretion of perfused pancreatic constructs composed of alginate/poly-L-lysine/alginate (APA) encapsulated mouse insulinoma βTC3 cells. The bioenergetic status of the encapsulated cells was monitored noninvasively with the aid of 31P NMR spectroscopy, while glucose, lactate, and insulin concentrations were measured with off-line assays from media samples removed from the perfusion loop. Our results demonstrate that in freshly prepared constructs insulin secretion was not affected by the hypoxic conditions, although intracellular ATP concentration decreased and glucose consumption increased. Alternatively, in constructs that were maintained in our perfusion system for at least 10 days, identical hypoxic conditions resulted in a decreased insulin secretion concomitant to a decreased intracellular ATP concentration and increased glucose consumption. These results suggest that the effects of hypoxia on a transformed cell-based pancreatic construct are not constant throughout the duration of an in vitro culture. The observed differences are attributed to the significant cell growth and rearrangement that occurs with time during an in vitro culture of the constructs.