Emerging Trends in Biodegradable Microcarriers for Therapeutic Applications

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Regenerative Medicine
• Cell Therapy

Background:

• Microcarriers (MCs) are versatile tools in regenerative medicine and drug delivery, used for cell expansion, tissue engineering scaffolds, and therapeutic compound delivery.
• Current microcarrier technologies face challenges in large-scale cell therapy production, including reduced cell yield and quality due to harvesting and dissociation steps.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review biodegradable microcarrier platforms for clinical-grade cell generation.
• To highlight their potential in cell delivery, tissue repair, and biopharmaceutical applications.

Main Methods:

• Compilation of key information on biodegradable microcarrier platforms.
• Analysis of their properties for cell expansion, delivery, and tissue engineering.

Main Results:

• Biodegradable MCs facilitate the generation of clinical-grade cells with high yield and quality.
• They serve as injectable scaffolds for defect filling and deliver biochemical signals for tissue regeneration.
• Integration with bioinks enhances 3D bioprinted structures and bioactive profiles.

Conclusions:

• Biodegradable microcarriers are crucial for overcoming challenges in cell therapy production and enabling advanced applications.
• Their tunable biodegradation and versatility benefit in vitro disease modeling and the biopharmaceutical industry.