Preparation of MSCs Alginate-based Microcapsules for Gene Therapy

Transplantation of microencapsulated transgenic mesenchymal stem cells (MCSs) is proposed as a gene therapy for the treatment of a wide variety of diseases since it allows for transplantation of endocrine cells in the absence of undesired immunosuppression as well as limited cell sources. Firstly, Alginate-Poly-L-Lysine (PLL) microcapsules were obtained using purified and non-purified sodium alginate respectively and their biocompatibility and membrane mechanical intensity were compared to investigate the necessity of purification of sodium alginate. Moreover, Alginate-Chitosan microcapsules were prepared as well as process optimization. The results showed the obviously improved biocompatibility and the membrane mechanical intensity o f purified sodium alginate-based microcapsules. Lastly, the MSCs loaded Alginate-Chitosan with good morphology microcapsules could be obtained using purified sodium alginate and chitosans of medium-molecular weight (1.0 ~ 2.5 times 10⁵) under optimal condition. The optimal preparation technological parameters were chitosan solution of 0.1% (w/v) and 7-min-long reaction time between alginate and chitosan (5-10 min).