Diabetes is the most common chronic disease in the world, and it brings a heavy burden to people's health. Against this background, diabetic research, including islet functionalization has become a hot topic in medical institutions all over the world. Especially with the rapid development of microencapsulation and three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting technologies, organ engineering and manufacturing have become the main trends for disease modeling and drug screening. Especially the advanced 3D models of pancreatic islets have shown better physiological functions than monolayer cultures, suggesting their potential in elucidating the behaviors of cells under different growth environments. This review mainly summarizes the latest progress of islet capsules and 3D printed pancreatic organs and introduces the activities of islet cells in the constructs with different encapsulation technologies and polymeric materials, as well as the vascularization and blood glucose control capabilities of these constructs after implantation. The challenges and perspectives of the pancreatic organ engineering/manufacturing technologies have also been demonstrated.
Keywords: 3D bioprinting; bioartificial pancreas; organ engineering/manufacturing; stem cells; vascularization.