Clinical grade cryopreservation unlocks transplant ready human pancreatic and stem cell derived islets for diabetes therapy

Rao, J. S.; Guo, Z.; Khashim, Z.; Knofczynski, K.; Tobolt, D.; Shivakumar, S. B.; Rangarajan, P.; Herman, A. C.; Abdulla, M.; Tran, A.; Fisher, B. J.; Salomon, T.; Lewis-Brinkman, S.; Steinhoff, M.; Balamurugan, A. N.; Etheridge, M. L.; Hering, B. J.; Ramachandran, S.; Peterson, Q. P.; Bischof, J.; Finger, E. B.

doi:10.64898/2026.04.25.720819

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bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.04.25.720819

Clinical grade cryopreservation unlocks transplant ready human pancreatic and stem cell derived islets for diabetes therapy

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Abstract

Pancreatic islet transplantation can restore endogenous insulin production and offers a potential cure for diabetes, but its clinical impact has been limited by the inability to preserve large numbers of functional islets for timely use. Cryopreservation could provide an on-demand supply, yet conventional methods cause ice formation, cell injury, and loss of insulin secretion. We developed CryoMesh, a vitrification platform that combines a low-toxicity cryoprotectant with a thermally conductive, biocompatible mesh to enable ultra-rapid cooling and rewarming for ice-free cryopreservation. This approach supports long-term, clinical-scale preservation of both human pancreatic and stem cell-derived islets while maintaining viability, architecture, mitochondrial integrity, and glucose-responsive insulin secretion. Human islets preserved for up to one year restored normoglycemia in diabetic mice, with complete recovery of function and no increase in immunogenicity or loss of potency. The combination of high viability, recovery, and functional preservation at clinical scale has not been achieved previously. By decoupling islet isolation and manufacture from transplantation, CryoMesh enables extended quality, potency, and safety testing, cost-effective batch production, and global banking and distribution. These capabilities remove a major barrier to curative cell therapy for diabetes and establish a generalizable strategy for preserving complex multicellular therapeutics. One Sentence SummaryA clinical scale vitrification platform enables long-term banking of human pancreatic and stem cell-derived islets for transplantation.

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Rao, J. S., Guo, Z., Khashim, Z., Knofczynski, K., Tobolt, D., Shivakumar, S. B., Rangarajan, P., Herman, A. C., Abdulla, M., Tran, A., Fisher, B. J., Salomon, T., Lewis-Brinkman, S., Steinhoff, M., Balamurugan, A. N., Etheridge, M. L., Hering, B. J., Ramachandran, S., Peterson, Q. P., Bischof, J., Finger, E. B.. 2026-04-27. Clinical grade cryopreservation unlocks transplant ready human pancreatic and stem cell derived islets for diabetes therapy. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.25.720819

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