An immuno-isolative membrane capable of consuming cytolytic complement proteins

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Abstract
In an earlier article we demonstrated that xenogeneic islets of Langerhans in an agarose/poly(styrenesulfonic acid) (PSSa) microcapsule were protected from the host's immune rejection and that diabetic animals maintained a normal glucose level for a long period of time after their transplantation. In this study, we attempted to make clear the immuno-isolative mechanism of the agarose-PSSa microcapsule from the standpoint of permeability of antibodies and complement proteins through this microcapsule membrane. It was found that the microcapsule was unable to prevent the permeation of IgG for longer than a few days, but protect the encapsulated cells from cytolytic complement attack. This strongly suggests that the cytolytic complement activity was lost during permeation through the micorcapsule, probably because of the strong interaction of PSSa in the membrane with complement proteins. Based on these findings we proposed the minimum requirement for the immuno-isolative memebrane to be applicable to xenotransplantation.