Study of the effect of membrane thickness on microcapsule strength, permeability, and cell proliferation

Cell microencapsulation is one of the promising strategies for in vitro production of proteins or in vivo delivery of therapeutic products. Membrane thickness controls microcapsule strength and permeability, which may in return affect cell growth and metabolism. In this study, the strength, permeability, and encapsulated Chinese hamster ovary cell proliferation and metabolism of four groups of microcapsules with different membrane thicknesses were investigated. It was found that increasing membrane thickness increases microcapsule strength, whereas decreases membrane permeability. During the first 6 days, cells within microcapsules with 10 μm thickness membrane proliferated fast and could reach a cell density of 1.9 × 10(7) cells/mL microcapsule with 92% cell density. A cell density of 5.5 × 10(7) cells/mL microcapsule with >85% cell density was achieved within microcapsules with 15 μm membrane thickness and these microcapsules kept over 88% integrity ratio after 11 days, which was much higher than that of microcapsules with 10 μm membrane thickness. Membrane with more than 20 μm thickness was not suited for encapsulated cell culture owing to low-protein diffusion rate. These results indicated that cells survived shortly within the thinnest membrane thickness. There was a specific membrane thickness more suitable for cell growth for a long-time culture. These findings will be useful for preparing microcapsules with the desired membrane thickness for microencapsulated cell culture dependent on various purposes.