Protein seeds hasten graft failure

This proposed hypothesis asks why replacement pancreatic tissue may lose function faster after repeated grafting, limiting how little tissue can be used while preserving hormone production. It proposes that islet amyloid polypeptide, a protein made by pancreatic hormone-secreting cells, persists as “seeds”: aggregates that make new protein molecules clump in the same shape. A seed-positive site could pass this pattern to the next endocrine graft, implanted tissue that restores hormone production. The test compares later grafts at seed-positive and unused sites while matching workload, blood supply, and starting cell mix. Validated seed removal would need to reset failure time, while cell-free seed material would need to shorten it at unused sites. Cytokines, soluble toxicity, and leftover cells must be controlled.