5.09 – The Artificial Organ: Cell Encapsulation

Artificial organ is a better therapeutic method of the disease or damage of organ, but the immune rejection is the major risk in this therapy. So, the protection of implanted cells from the host immune rejection using immune-isolation technology will be important in fulfilling the potential of cell-based therapeutics. Over the last 30 years, the encapsulation of cells and tissues in suitable materials has been the most widely explored immune-isolation strategy and has extensive clinical applications, and it is likely to play a major role in cell transplantation therapies. The encapsulated artificial organ generally contains cells or cell clusters within a biocompatible semi-permeable membrane, and this membrane allows the bidirectional diffusion of the small molecules, such as nutrients, metabolites, and therapeutic drugs, and but prevents antibody and immunocyte from getting into the microcapsule. The controlled and continuous delivery of therapeutic drugs to the host by encapsulated cells or tissue will be a potentially cost-effective method to treat many diseases. At present, four aspects of encapsulated cells are critical for the success of the cell-transplantation therapy, namely the capsule permeability, mechanical properties, immune protection, and biocompatibility. Therefore, it is necessary to consider these issues in study. This article attempts to provide the summary of cell-encapsulation technology during the last few years and presents the developments of the technology as a promising strategy for biomedical purpose.