TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A BIOARTIFICIAL PANCREAS - A C-13 NMR-STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF ALGINATE POLY-L-LYSINE/ALGINATE ENTRAPMENT ON GLUCOSE-METABOLISM BY BETA-TC3 MOUSE INSULINOMA CELLS/

We have utilized C-13 NMR spectroscopy to investigate glucose metaboli sm in the mouse insulinoma beta TC3 cell line. Cells were cultured and examined both as monolayers, and entrapped in alginate/poly-L-lysine/ alginate beads. Entrapped cultures were tested at 3 and 30 days post-e ntrapment. The purpose of this study was to assess whether the entrapp ed environment affects glucose metabolism and insulin secretion. Both monolayer and entrapped cultures were fed with 10 mM [1-C-13]-glucose for 4 hrs. prior to extraction with perchloric acid. Our data revealed that beta TC3 cells possessed a reduced tricarboxylic acid (TCA) acti vity in the entrapped cultures, and that they metabolized pyruvate pri marily via pyruvate dehydrogenase regardless of the mode or age of the culture.