Effect of mouse VEGF164on the viability of hydroxyethyl methacrylate-methyl methacrylate-microencapsulated cellsin vivo: Bioluminescence imaging

Advances in polymer-based cell encapsulation and its applications in tissue repair

Cell microencapsulation is a more widely accepted area of biological encapsulation. In most cases, it involves fixing cells in polymer scaffolds or semi-permeable hydrogel capsules, providing the environment for protecting cells, allowing the exchange of nutrients and oxygen, and protecting cells against the attack of the host immune system by preventing the entry of antibodies and cytotoxic immune cells. Hydrogel encapsulation provides a three-dimensional (3D) environment similar to that experienced in vivo, so it can maintain normal cellular functions to produce tissues similar to those in vivo. Embedded cells can be genetically modified to release specific therapeutic products directly at the target site, thereby eliminating the side effects of systemic treatments. Cellular microcarriers need to meet many extremely high standards regarding their biocompatibility, cytocompatibility, immunoseparation capacity, transport, mechanical, and chemical properties. In this article, we discuss the biopolymer gels used in tissue engineering applications and the brief introduction of cell encapsulation for therapeutic protein production. Also, we review polymer biomaterials and methods for preparing cell microcarriers for biomedical applications. At the same time, in order to improve the application performance of cell microcarriers in vivo, we also summarize the main limitations and improvement strategies of cell encapsulation. Finally, the main applications of polymer cell microcarriers in regenerative medicine are summarized.

Single-Cell Microgels for Diagnostics and Therapeutics

Cell encapsulation within hydrogel droplets is transforming what is feasible in multiple fields of biomedical science such as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, in vitro modeling, and cell-based therapies. Recent advances have allowed researchers to miniaturize material encapsulation complexes down to single-cell scales, where each complex, termed a single-cell microgel, contains only one cell surrounded by a hydrogel matrix while remaining <100 μm in size. With this achievement, studies requiring single-cell resolution are now possible, similar to those done using liquid droplet encapsulation. Of particular note, applications involving long-term in vitro cultures, modular bioinks, high-throughput screenings, and formation of 3D cellular microenvironments can be tuned independently to suit the needs of individual cells and experimental goals. In this progress report, an overview of established materials and techniques used to fabricate single-cell microgels, as well as insight into potential alternatives is provided. This focused review is concluded by discussing applications that have already benefited from single-cell microgel technologies, as well as prospective applications on the cusp of achieving important new capabilities.

Polymer microcapsules and microbeads as cell carriers for in vivo biomedical applications

Polymer microcarriers are being extensively explored as cell delivery vehicles in cell-based therapies and hybrid tissue and organ engineering. Spherical microcarriers are of particular interest due to easy fabrication and injectability. They include microbeads, composed of a porous matrix, and microcapsules, where matrix core is additionally covered with a semipermeable membrane. Microcarriers provide cell containment at implantation site and protect the cells from host immunoresponse, degradation and shear stress. Immobilized cells may be genetically altered to release a specific therapeutic product directly at the target site, eliminating side effects of systemic therapies. Cell microcarriers need to fulfil a number of extremely high standards regarding their biocompatibility, cytocompatibility, immunoisolating capacity, transport, mechanical and chemical properties. To obtain cell microcarriers of specified parameters, a wide variety of polymers, both natural and synthetic, and immobilization methods can be applied. Yet so far, only a few approaches based on cell-laden microcarriers have reached clinical trials. The main issue that still impedes progress of these systems towards clinical application is limited cell survival in vivo. Herein, we review polymer biomaterials and methods used for fabrication of cell microcarriers for in vivo biomedical applications. We describe their key limitations and modifications aiming at improvement of microcarrier in vivo performance. We also present the main applications of polymer cell microcarriers in regenerative medicine, pancreatic islet and hepatocyte transplantation and in the treatment of cancer. Lastly, we outline the main challenges in cell microimmobilization for biomedical purposes, the strategies to overcome these issues and potential future improvements in this area.

Living Cell Factories - Electrosprayed Microcapsules and Microcarriers for Minimally Invasive Delivery

Minimally invasive delivery of "living cell factories" consisting of cells and therapeutic agents has gained wide attention for next generation biomaterial device systems for multiple applications including musculoskeletal tissue regeneration, diabetes and cancer. Cellular-based microcapsules and microcarrier systems offer several attractive features for this particular purpose. One such technology capable of generating these types of systems is electrohydrodynamic (EHD) spraying. Depending on various parameters, including applied voltage, biomaterial properties (viscosity, conductivity) and needle geometry, complex structures and arrangements can be fabricated for therapeutic strategies. The advances in the use of EHD technology are outlined, specifically in the manipulation of bioactive and dynamic material systems to control size, composition and configuration in the development of minimally invasive micro-scaled biopolymeric systems. The exciting therapeutic applications of this technology, future perspectives and associated challenges are also presented.

Cell microencapsulation with synthetic polymers

The encapsulation of cells into polymeric microspheres or microcapsules has permitted the transplantation of cells into human and animal subjects without the need for immunosuppressants. Cell-based therapies use donor cells to provide sustained release of a therapeutic product, such as insulin, and have shown promise in treating a variety of diseases. Immunoisolation of these cells via microencapsulation is a hotly investigated field, and the preferred material of choice has been alginate, a natural polymer derived from seaweed due to its gelling conditions. Although many natural polymers tend to gel in conditions favorable to mammalian cell encapsulation, there remain challenges such as batch to batch variability and residual components from the original source that can lead to an immune response when implanted into a recipient. Synthetic materials have the potential to avoid these issues; however, historically they have required harsh polymerization conditions that are not favorable to mammalian cells. As research into microencapsulation grows, more investigators are exploring methods to microencapsulate cells into synthetic polymers. This review describes a variety of synthetic polymers used to microencapsulate cells.

A novel high-speed production process to create modular components for the bottom-up assembly of large-scale tissue-engineered constructs

To replace damaged or diseased tissues, large tissue-engineered constructs can be prepared by assembling modular components in a bottom-up approach. However, a high-speed method is needed to produce sufficient numbers of these modules for full-sized tissue substitutes. To this end, a novel production technique is devised, combining air shearing and a plug flow reactor-style design to rapidly produce large quantities of hydrogel-based (here type I collagen) cylindrical modular components with tunable diameters and length. Using this technique, modules containing NIH 3T3 cells show greater than 95% viability while endothelial cell surface attachment and confluent monolayer formation are demonstrated. Additionally, the rapidly produced modules are used to assemble large tissue constructs (>1 cm(3) ) in vitro. Module building blocks containing luciferase-expressing L929 cells are packed in full size adult rat-liver-shaped bioreactors and perfused with cell medium, to demonstrate the capacity to build organ-shaped constructs; bioluminescence demonstrates sustained viability over 3 d. Cardiomyocyte-embedded modules are also used to assemble electrically stimulatable contractile tissue.

Bioluminescence tracking of alginate micro-encapsulated cell transplants

Cell-based therapies to treat loss-of-function hormonal disorders such as diabetes and Parkinson's disease are routinely coupled with encapsulation strategies, but an understanding of when and why grafts fail in vivo is lacking. Consequently, investigators cannot clearly define the key factors that influence graft success. Although bioluminescence is a popular method to track the survival of free cells transplanted in preclinical models, little is known of the ability to use bioluminescence for real-time tracking of microencapsulated cells. Furthermore, the impact that dynamic imaging distances may have, due to freely-floating microcapsules in vivo, on cell survival monitoring is unknown. This work addresses these questions by applying bioluminescence to a pancreatic substitute based on microencapsulated cells. Recombinant insulin-secreting cells were transduced with a luciferase lentivirus and microencapsulated in Ba²⁺ crosslinked alginate for in vitro and in vivo studies. In vitro quantitative bioluminescence monitoring was possible and viable microencapsulated cells were followed in real time under both normoxic and anoxic conditions. Although in vivo dispersion of freely-floating microcapsules in the peritoneal cavity limited the analysis to a qualitative bioluminescence evaluation, signals consistently four orders of magnitude above background were clear indicators of temporal cell survival. Strong agreement between in vivo and in vitro cell proliferation over time was discovered by making direct bioluminescence comparisons between explanted microcapsules and parallel in vitro cultures. Broader application of this bioluminescence approach to retrievable transplants, in supplement to currently used end-point physiological tests, could improve understanding and accelerate development of cell-based therapies for critical clinical applications. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.