Improved survival of anchorage-dependent cells in core-shell hydrogel microcapsules via co-encapsulation with cell-friendly microspheres |
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Authors: | In-Yong Kim |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA;2. Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA |
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Abstract: | In this study, we investigated the effect of intracapsular environment on the survival of anchorage-dependent cells (ADCs) encapsulated in alginate microcapsules with three different core structures, i.e. liquid, semi-liquid and microsphere-encapsulating semi-liquid core, using NIH 3T3 fibroblasts as an ADC model. For the latter, we fabricated poly (?-caprolactone) microspheres and co-encapsulated them with the cells, to establish cell-substrate interactions in the capsule. The fibroblast cells co-encapsulated with the microspheres exhibited higher survival and growth than those without. This study provides a “proof of concept” for employing microspheres as a cell-friendly surface to establish intracapsular cell-substrate interactions thus prolonging the survival of encapsulated therapeutic ADCs. |
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Keywords: | Microspheres microcapsules core/shell structure co-encapsulation cell encapsulation |
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