title: Fabrication of stable galactosylated alginate microcapsules via covalent coupling onto hydroxyl groups for hepatocytes applications.
abstract: Galactose moieties are covalently coupled with sodium alginate to enhance liver-specific functions in microcapsules owing to the specific interaction between the galactose moieties and the asialoglycoprotein receptors (ASGPRs) of hepatocytes. In this study, galactosylated alginate (L-NH2-OH-alginate) based microcapsules with desirable stability and a suitable 3D microenvironment are designed and fabricated for primary hepatocyte applications. The designed L-NH2-OH-alginate is fabricated via the application of ethylenediamine grafted lactobionic acid (L-NH2) onto the hydroxyl groups of sodium alginate so that the negatively charged carboxyl groups intact in L-NH2-OH-alginate can effectively bond with Ca2+to form a stable three-dimensional gel network; a subsequent reaction with polycations forms a stable membrane of microcapsules. As a result, L-NH2-OH-alginate based microcapsules exhibit an excellent mechanical stability. Moreover, with a higher degree of substitution in L-NH2-OH-alginate (DS 0.41), the hepatocytes entrapped in L-NH2-OH-alginate microcapsules exhibit better viability and well-maintained liver-specific functions.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biomedical Materials Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
authors.forename: Ruyun
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biomedical Materials Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, PR China. Electronic address: yuwt@dicp.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Weiting
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biomedical Materials Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
authors.forename: Yizhe
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biomedical Materials Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biomedical Materials Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
authors.forename: Huizhen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biomedical Materials Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, PR China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug Safety Evaluation and Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, PR China.
authors.forename: Yunfei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug Safety Evaluation and Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, PR China.
authors.forename: Guoyu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology and Embryology, College of Basic Medical Science, Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116044, PR China. Electronic address: panpan1210@dicp.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Xiuli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biomedical Materials Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaojun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
keywords: Biological artificial liver support systems; Galactosylated alginate; Hydroxyl groups; Microcapsules; Primary hepatocytes