Functional Cells Cultured on Microcarriers for Use in Regenerative Medicine Research
Microcarriers have been successfully used for many years for growing anchorage-dependent cells and as a means of delivering cells for tissue repair. When cultured on microcarriers, the number of anchorage-dependent cells, including primary cells, can easily be scaled up and controlled to generate th...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2011-02-01
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| Series: | Cell Transplantation |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3727/096368910X532792 |
| Summary: | Microcarriers have been successfully used for many years for growing anchorage-dependent cells and as a means of delivering cells for tissue repair. When cultured on microcarriers, the number of anchorage-dependent cells, including primary cells, can easily be scaled up and controlled to generate the quantities of cells necessary for therapeutic applications. Recently, stem cell technology has been recognized as a powerful tool in regenerative medicine, but adequate numbers of stem cells that retain their differentiation potential are still difficult to obtain. For anchorage-dependent stem cells, however, microcarrier-based suspension culture using various types of microcarriers has proven to be a good alternative for effective ex vivo expansion. In this article, we review studies reporting the expansion, differentiation, or transplantation of functional anchorage-dependent cells that were expanded with the microcarrier culture system. Thus, the implementation of technological advances in biodegradable microcarriers, the bead-to-bead transfer process, and appropriate stem cell media may soon foster the ability to produce the numbers of stem cells necessary for cell-based therapies and/or tissue engineering. |
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| ISSN: | 0963-6897 1555-3892 |