Cell encapsulation via microtechnologies.
The encapsulation of living cells in a variety of soft polymers or hydrogels is important, particularly, for the rehabilitation of functional tissues capable of repairing or replacing damaged organs. Cellular encapsulation segregates cells from the surrounding tissue to protect the implanted cell from the recipient's immune system after transplantation. Diverse hydrogel membranes have been popularly used as encapsulating materials and permit the diffusion of gas, nutrients, wastes and therapeutic products smoothly. This review describes a variety of methods that have been developed to achieve cellular encapsulation using microscale platform. Microtechnologies have been adopted to precisely control the encapsulated cell number, size and shape of a cell-laden polymer structure. We provide a brief overview of recent microtechnology-based cell encapsulation methods, with a detailed description of the relevant processes. Finally, we discuss the current challenges and future directions likely to be taken by cell microencapsulation approaches toward tissue engineering and cell therapy applications.
Biotechnology-Medical Science, KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Republic of Korea.
AhRan
A
Kang
Biotechnology-Medical Science, KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Republic of Korea.
JiSoo
J
Park
Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Science, Korea University, Seoul 136-703, Republic of Korea.
Jongil
J
Ju
Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Science, Korea University, Seoul 136-703, Republic of Korea.
Gi Seok
GS
Jeong
Biotechnology-Medical Science, KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Republic of Korea; Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Science, Korea University, Seoul 136-703, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: dbiomed@korea.ac.kr.
Sang-Hoon
SH
Lee
D000818:Animals; D002477:Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D018914:Cells, Immobilized; D006801:Humans; D044085:Microfluidics; D008863:Microspheres; D055616:Microtechnology / Q000379:methods*
Cell encapsulation; Immune protection; Microencapsulation; Microtechnology; Tissue engineering; Transplantation