title: Advances in biocompatibility and physico-chemical characterization of microspheres for cell encapsulation.
abstract: Cell encapsulation has already shown its high potential and holds the promise for future cell therapies to enter the clinics as a large scale treatment option for various types of diseases. The advancement in cell biology towards this goal has to be complemented with functional biomaterials suitable for cell encapsulation. This cannot be achieved without understanding the close correlation between cell performance and properties of microspheres. The ongoing challenges in the field of cell encapsulation require a critical view on techniques and approaches currently utilized to characterize microspheres. This review deals with both principal subjects of microspheres characterization in the cell encapsulation field: physico-chemical characterization and biocompatibility. The up-to-day knowledge is summarized and discussed with the focus to identify missing knowledge and uncertainties, and to propose the mandatory next steps in characterization of microspheres for cell encapsulation. The primary conclusion of this review is that further success in development of microspheres for cell therapies cannot be accomplished without careful selection of characterization techniques, which are employed in conjunction with biological tests.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Prinsesse Kristinasgt. 1, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway; The Central Norway Health Authority (RHA), Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: anne.m.rokstad@ntnu.no.
authors.forename: Anne Mari A
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Rokstad
authors.affiliation: Department for Biomaterials Research, Polymer Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dubravska cesta 9, 845 41 Bratislava, Slovakia. Electronic address: igor.lacik@savba.sk.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lacík
authors.affiliation: Immunoendocrinology, Department of Pathology and Medical Biology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, EA11, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: p.de.vos@umcg.nl.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Vos
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Prinsesse Kristinasgt. 1, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway; Department of Biotechnology, NTNU, Sem Saelandsvei 6/8, N-7491 Trondheim, Norway; The Central Norway Health Authority (RHA), Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: berit.l.strand@ntnu.no.
authors.forename: Berit L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Strand
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017690:Cell Transplantation; D004548:Elasticity; D006801:Humans; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008422:Materials Testing; D008863:Microspheres; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins
keywords: Biocompatibility; Biotolerability; Cell encapsulation; Cell therapy; Complement; Host response; Microbeads; Microcapsules; Microspheres; Permeability; Physico-chemical characterization