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Polymerization-Mediated Multifunctionalization of Living Cells for Enhanced Cell-Based Therapy
Chao Pan1, Juanjuan Li1, Weiliang Hou1
1State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Shanghai Cancer Institute, Shanghai Key Laboratory for Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Nanomedicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200127, China.
Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
|February 25, 2021
Summary
Researchers developed a simple method to coat living cells with various functional materials. This cell surface engineering enhances therapeutic delivery and efficacy, particularly for gut-related diseases.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Cell Biology
- Therapeutic Development
Background:
- Surface modification of cells is crucial for cell-based therapies.
- Existing methods for cell decoration can be complex or limited in scope.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a facile and versatile method for multimodal cell surface decoration.
- To enhance the therapeutic potential of engineered cells through surface functionalization.
Main Methods:
- Co-deposition of dopamine with functional molecules/polymers onto living cells under cytocompatible conditions.
- Demonstration of decoration on diverse cell types (bacteria, fungi, mammalian cells).
- Application of decorated gut microbiota for targeted oral therapeutics in colitis models.
Main Results:
- Successful multimodal coating of various cell types.
- Decorated gut microbiota exhibited over 30-fold higher gut bioavailability and 4-fold higher inflamed tissue accumulation compared to uncoated cells.
- Engineered cells demonstrated significantly increased therapeutic efficacy in a colitis mouse model.
Conclusions:
- The developed dopamine-mediated co-deposition is a robust and versatile platform for creating multifunctional cell coatings.
- This approach offers a promising strategy for developing advanced cell-based therapies with enhanced targeting and efficacy.
- Multimodal cell surface engineering holds significant potential for improving treatments in various biomedical applications.
