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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Stephen Swioklo, Professor Che ConnonORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
With the ever-increasing clinical application of cell-based therapies, it is considered critical to develop systems that facilitate the storage and distribution of cell therapy products (CTPs) between sites of manufacture and the clinic. For such systems to be realized, it is essential that downstream bioprocessing strategies be established that are scalable, reproducible and do not influence the viability or function of the living biologic. To this end, we examined alginate-encapsulation as a method to heighten the preservation of human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) during hypothermic storage, and establish a scalable process for high-volume production. A drop-wise method for scalable alginate bead generation, using calcium as the cross-linker, was modified to enable the yield of up to 3,500 gelled beads per minute. The effect of alginate concentration on the viscosity of non-gelled sodium alginate and the mechanical properties and internal structure of calcium-crosslinked alginate in response to different alginate and calcium concentrations were investigated. Mechanical strength was chiefly dependent on alginate concentration and 1.2% alginate cross-linked with 100 mM calcium chloride could withstand stress in the order of 35 kPa. Upon selection of appropriate parameters, we demonstrated the suitability of using this method for immobilizing human stem cells. Encapsulated hASCs demonstrated no loss in cell viability, and had a uniform distribution after high-volume production. Following storage, released cells were able to attach and recover a normal morphology upon return to culture conditions. Thus we present a scalable method for stem cell encapsulation and storage for application within the cell therapy supply chain
Author(s): Swioklo S, Ding P, Pacek AW, Connon CJ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Process Biochemistry
Year: 2017
Volume: 59
Issue: B
Pages: 289-296
Print publication date: 01/08/2017
Online publication date: 07/06/2016
Acceptance date: 06/06/2016
Date deposited: 16/06/2016
ISSN (print): 1359-5113
ISSN (electronic): 1873-3298
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.procbio.2016.06.005
DOI: 10.1016/j.procbio.2016.06.005
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