title: Contribution of polymeric materials to progress in xenotransplantation of microencapsulated cells: a review.
abstract: Cell microencapsulation and subsequent transplantation of the microencapsulated cells require multidisciplinary approaches. Physical, chemical, biological, engineering, and medical expertise has to be combined. Several natural and synthetic polymeric materials and different technologies have been reported for the preparation of hydrogels, which are suitable to protect cells by microencapsulation. However, owing to the frequent lack of adequate characterization of the hydrogels and their components as well as incomplete description of the technology, many results of in vitro and in vivo studies appear contradictory or cannot reliably be reproduced. This review addresses the state of the art in cell microencapsulation with special focus on microencapsulated cells intended for xenotransplantation cell therapies. The choice of materials, the design and fabrication of the microspheres, as well as the conditions to be met during the cell microencapsulation process, are summarized and discussed prior to presenting research results of in vitro and in vivo studies. Overall, this review will serve to sensitize medically educated specialists for materials and technological aspects of cell microencapsulation.
authors.affiliation: Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Institute for Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Redouan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mahou
authors.affiliation: Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Solène
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Passemard
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carvello
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petrelli
authors.affiliation: Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Noverraz
authors.affiliation: Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gerber-Lemaire
authors.affiliation: Interfaculty Institute of Bioengineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wandrey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count / Q000379:methods; D064987:Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy / Q000379:methods; D004339:Drug Compounding / Q000379:methods; D064593:Heterografts; D006801:Humans; D008863:Microspheres; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous / Q000379:methods
keywords: biocompatibility; cell microencapsulation; hydrogels; mechanical resistance; permeability; xenotransplantation