[Advances in poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) based platforms for cell culture]

Poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm), a temperature-responsive polymer, can be potentially applied to replace enzymes or cell scrapers to recover attached cells. Taking full advantage of this unique function of PNIPAAm, cells can be protected from enzymatic hydrolysis and mechanical treatment, thereby to provide ideal seed cells with high quality for biomedical fields. In this review we describe the method to facilitate cell effective adhesion and rapid detachment on thermoresponsive two dimensional surfaces, including selecting special substrate, introducing hydrophilic group, adjusting reactant ratio, controlling polymer thickness/density, providing appropriate external force, so as to effectively improve adherent cell adaptability to thermoresponsive surfaces, depress the risk of bacterial contamination and reduce the effect of low-temperature treatment on the cells. The three dimensional cell culture systems involved in temperature-sensitive microcarriers, scaffolds and gels were briefly discussed. The application based on the platforms for cell culture was also presented.