Fig. 3

Schematic of fabrication processes for islet-like organoids, adopted and modified from Candiello et al. [82] and Takahashi et al. [87]. a Generation of hESC-derived islet spheroids and islet-like organoids on Amikagel hydrogel platform. Pre-differentiated hESC-derived pancreatic progenitor cells (hESC-PPs) on 2D Matrigel were harvested and then seeded onto the Amikagel hydrogel platform to either form homogenous islet spheroids or be combined with endothelial cells (HUVEC) to form endothelialized heterogeneous islet-like organoids. Several other scaffold-based strategies have also been applied to generate hESC-derived islet-like organoids such as collagen-Matrigel scaffolds. b Generation of vascularized islet-like organoids in self-condensation culture. In this process, isolated adult mouse/human islets or hiPSC-derived pancreatic tissues were co-cultured with endothelial cells (HUVECs) and human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). In the beginning, the cells were scattered throughout the culture well, and then, they began moving towards the center of the well to form condensed tissue. Each condensed tissue contained pancreatic islets with endothelial cells surrounding them