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The effects of alginate composition on the growth of murine insulinoma βTC3 cells encapsulated in alginate/poly-l-lysine/alginate (APA) beads, and on the overall metabolic and secretory characteristics of the encapsulated cell system, were investigated for four different types of alginate. Two of the alginates used had a high guluronic acid content (73% in guluronic acid residues) with varying molecular weight, while the other two had a high mannuronic acid content (68% in mannuronic acid residues) with varying molecular weight. Each composition was tested using two different polymer concentrations. Our data show that βTC3 cells encapsulated in alginates with a high guluronic acid content experienced a transient hindrance in their metabolic and secretory activity because of growth inhibition. Conversely, βTC3 cells encapsulated in alginates with a high mannuronic acid content experienced a rapid increase in …