Microfluidic-Based Synthesis of Hydrogel Particles for Cell Microencapsulation and Cell-Based Drug Delivery

Abstract

Encapsulation of cells in hydrogel particles has been demonstrated as an effective approach to deliver therapeutic agents. The properties of hydrogel particles, such as the chemical composition, size, porosity, and number of cells per particle, affect cellular functions and consequently play important roles for the cell-based drug delivery. Microfluidics has shown unparalleled advantages for the synthesis of polymer particles and been utilized to produce hydrogel particles with a well-defined size, shape and morphology. Most importantly, during the encapsulation process, microfluidics can control the number of cells per particle and the overall encapsulation efficiency. Therefore, microfluidics is becoming the powerful approach for cell microencapsulation and construction of cell-based drug delivery systems. In this article, I summarize and discuss microfluidic approaches that have been developed recently for the synthesis of hydrogel particles and encapsulation of cells. I will start by classifying different types of hydrogel material, including natural biopolymers and synthetic polymers that are used for cell encapsulation, and then focus on the current status and challenges of microfluidic-based approaches. Finally, applications of cell-containing hydrogel particles for cell-based drug delivery, particularly for cancer therapy, are discussed.

High-throughput screening approaches and combinatorial development of biomaterials using microfluidics

“…Various types of hydrogels have been processed in microfluidic systems [88], with collagen [89][90][91][92], PEG [1,93,94], agarose [95], fibrin [92,96], and PEGDA [97,98] being most commonly used as single compounds or in mixtures.…”

Chitosan as an Advanced Healthcare Material

“…Modifi ed chitosan in drug delivery was reviewed by Riva et al this review noted that quaternization and thiolation improves solubility and stability of ionic complexes while the mucoadhesive properties of the polymer increased [128]. Th e microencapsulation of cells and cell-based drug delivery involving chitosan was reviewed by Wan [129]. Patel and colleagues published an extensive review related to chitosan mediated targeted drug delivery systems [130].…”

The kinetic study of solidification PEGDA microparticles in flow-focusing microfluidic chip

“…Microfluidics provides control of fluids at the microscale and generate micrometer diameter droplets with a narrow size distribution and well-tailored structures [5]. In droplet-based methods, microdroplets are generated using shear forces induced by immiscible fluids inside a pinched region of a microfluidic device and then solidified to be MPs.…”