Microencapsulation of mammalian cells in a water-insoluble polyacrylate by coextrustion and interfacial precipitation

A process for the microencapsulation of mammalian cells in a commercially available water-insoluble polyacrylate (EUDRAGIT RL) is described, and the effects of process parameters are outlined The polymer dissolved in diethyl phthalate was pumped along the annulus formed from two concentric needles, while the cell suspension was pumped inside the inner needle Droplets of polymer solution containing cells were blown off the end of the needles by a coaxial air stream. The droplets fell into a corn oil-mineral oil curing bath, in which the solvent was removed from the nascent capsule causing the polymer to precipitate around the cell suspension core. Capsules were washed free of oils and solvent in a fractionated plasma that allowed for quantitative transfer of capsules from the oil phase to an aqueous medium. By appropriate adjustment of the coaxial air flow rate, capsule size could be varied from 250-1000 mum, although the most convenient size was found to be 400-700 mum. Adding Ficoll 400 to the cell suspension to match the density of the suspension to the polymer solution resulted in capsules with a well-centered core but did not affect capsule strength. It appeared that increasing the polymer solution concentration or the polymer to the cell flow rate ratio resulted in an increased capsule strength, although differences in capsule size made unequivocal conclusions difficult. These capsules are of potential use as an artificial pancreas for the treatment of diabetes (with pancreatic islets) or for large-scale tissue culture and the production of bioactive products (e.g., with fibroblasts).