Development of pH-Responsive Polymer Coating as an Alternative to Enzyme-Based Stem Cell Dissociation for Cell Therapy

Cell Detachment: A Review of Techniques, Challenges, and Opportunities for Advancing Biomedical Research and Applications

Culturing living cells outside the body is a complex process involving various techniques. Despite advances, harvesting cells remains challenging, especially in light of new emerging and scaled-up cell culture technologies. Enzymatic adherent cell harvesting is the most used and robust technology but can harm cells. Non-enzymatic detachment methods offer advantages but also present challenges. Thermo-responsive polymers require precise control of the molecular characteristics and thickness of the thermoresponsive films, which makes this method less robust and more expensive. This review highlights the importance of controlling harvested cell quality and its relationship to cell binding and detachment mechanisms. Many alternative methods have not been extensively analyzed, and their impact on cell quality beyond standard viability assays is not yet known. Developing robust cell harvesting methods for bioreactor microcarriers is a rapidly growing challenge as the cell manufacturing industry expands. Microcarriers with stimuli-responsive coatings face challenges similar to those observed for laboratory-scale cell dishes and bring an additional aspect of the need for microbead recycling consideration. All that together underlines the importance of the research in biomaterials and biotechnology for cell manufacturing.

Poly(amino ester)-Based Polymers for Gene and Drug Delivery Systems and Further Application toward Cell Culture System

Various synthetic polymers based on poly(amino ester) (PAE) are suggested as candidates for gene and drug delivery owing to their pH-responsiveness, which contributes to efficient delivery performance. PAE-based pH-responsive polymers are more biodegradable and hydrophilic than other types of pH-responsive polymers. The functionality of PAE-based polymers can be reinforced by using different chemical modifications to improve the efficiency of gene and drug delivery. Additionally, PAE-based polymers are used in many ways in the biomedical field, such as in transdermal delivery and stem cell culture systems. Here, the recent novel PAE-based polymers designed for gene and drug delivery systems along with their further applications toward adult stem cell culture systems are reviewed. The synthetic tactics are contemplated and pros and cons of each type of polymer are analyzed, and detailed examples of the different types are analyzed.