Iron Nanoparticle Composite Hydrogels for Studying Effects of Iron Ion Release on Red Blood Cell In Vitro Production

Growing numbers of complex surgical interventions increase the need for blood transfusions, which cannot be fulfilled by the number of donors. Therefore, the interest in producing erythrocytes from their precursors-the hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs)-in laboratories is rising. To enable this, in vitro systems are needed, which allow analysis of the effects of essential factors such as iron on erythroid development. For this purpose, iron ion-releasing systems based on poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-iron nanocomposites are developed to assess if gradual iron release improves iron bioavailability during in vitro erythroid differentiation. The nanocomposites are synthesized using surfactant-free pulsed laser ablation of iron directly in the PEG solution. The iron concentrations released from the material are sufficient to influence in vitro erythropoiesis. In this way, the production of erythroid cells cultured on flat PEG-iron nanocomposite hydrogel pads can be enhanced. In contrast, erythroid differentiation is not enhanced in the biomimetic macroporous 3D composite scaffolds, possibly because of local iron overload within the pores of the system. In conclusion, the developed iron nanoparticle-PEG composite hydrogel allows constant iron ion release and thus paves the way (i) to understand the role of iron during erythropoiesis and (ii) toward the development of biomaterials with a controlled iron release for directing erythropoiesis in culture.

Stem cell biomanufacturing under uncertainty: A case study in optimizing red blood cell production

As breakthrough cellular therapy discoveries are translated into reliable, commercializable applications, effective stem cell biomanufacturing requires systematically developing and optimizing bioprocess design and operation. This article proposes a rigorous computational framework for stem cell biomanufacturing under uncertainty. Our mathematical tool kit incorporates: high‐fidelity modeling, single variate and multivariate sensitivity analysis, global topological superstructure optimization, and robust optimization. The advantages of the proposed bioprocess optimization framework using, as a case study, a dual hollow fiber bioreactor producing red blood cells from progenitor cells were quantitatively demonstrated. The optimization phase reduces the cost by a factor of 4, and the price of insuring process performance against uncertainty is approximately 15% over the nominal optimal solution. Mathematical modeling and optimization can guide decision making; the possible commercial impact of this cellular therapy using the disruptive technology paradigm was quantitatively evaluated. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 3011–3022, 2018