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Credit: Umberto Salvagnin
Scientists say they have devised a method for engineering cells that are more easily controlled after transplantation.
The team loaded cells with microparticles that release phenotype-altering agents for days to weeks after transplantation.
With this method, the researchers were able to control cells’ secretome, viability, proliferation, and differentiation. The approach was also successful in delivering drugs and other factors to the cell’s microenvironment.
The scientists described this method in Nature Protocols.
They provided step-by-step instructions for generating micrometer-sized agent-doped poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) particles using a single-emulsion evaporation technique, engineering cultured cells, and confirming particle internalization.
“Once those particles are internalized into the cells, which can take on the order of 6 to 24 hours, we can deliver the transplant immediately or even cryopreserve the cells,” said study author Jeffrey Karp, PhD, of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“When the cells are thawed at the patient’s bedside, they can be administered, and the agents will start to be released inside the cells to control differentiation, immune modulation, or matrix production, for example.”
Of course, it could take more than a decade for this type of cell therapy to be a common medical practice. But Dr Karp and his colleagues detailed this research in Nature Protocols to encourage others in the scientific community to use the technique and potentially speed up the pace of this research.
The team’s paper shows the range of different cell types that can be particle-engineered, including stem cells, immune cells, and pancreatic cells.
“With this versatile platform . . . , we’ve demonstrated the ability to track cells in the body, control stem cell differentiation, and even change the way cells interact with immune cells,” said study author James Ankrum, PhD, who was a graduate student in Dr Karp’s lab when this research was conducted but is now at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
“We’re excited to see what applications other researchers will imagine using this platform.” 
Credit: Umberto Salvagnin
Scientists say they have devised a method for engineering cells that are more easily controlled after transplantation.
The team loaded cells with microparticles that release phenotype-altering agents for days to weeks after transplantation.
With this method, the researchers were able to control cells’ secretome, viability, proliferation, and differentiation. The approach was also successful in delivering drugs and other factors to the cell’s microenvironment.
The scientists described this method in Nature Protocols.
They provided step-by-step instructions for generating micrometer-sized agent-doped poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) particles using a single-emulsion evaporation technique, engineering cultured cells, and confirming particle internalization.
“Once those particles are internalized into the cells, which can take on the order of 6 to 24 hours, we can deliver the transplant immediately or even cryopreserve the cells,” said study author Jeffrey Karp, PhD, of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“When the cells are thawed at the patient’s bedside, they can be administered, and the agents will start to be released inside the cells to control differentiation, immune modulation, or matrix production, for example.”
Of course, it could take more than a decade for this type of cell therapy to be a common medical practice. But Dr Karp and his colleagues detailed this research in Nature Protocols to encourage others in the scientific community to use the technique and potentially speed up the pace of this research.
The team’s paper shows the range of different cell types that can be particle-engineered, including stem cells, immune cells, and pancreatic cells.
“With this versatile platform . . . , we’ve demonstrated the ability to track cells in the body, control stem cell differentiation, and even change the way cells interact with immune cells,” said study author James Ankrum, PhD, who was a graduate student in Dr Karp’s lab when this research was conducted but is now at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
“We’re excited to see what applications other researchers will imagine using this platform.”
Credit: Umberto Salvagnin
Scientists say they have devised a method for engineering cells that are more easily controlled after transplantation.
The team loaded cells with microparticles that release phenotype-altering agents for days to weeks after transplantation.
With this method, the researchers were able to control cells’ secretome, viability, proliferation, and differentiation. The approach was also successful in delivering drugs and other factors to the cell’s microenvironment.
The scientists described this method in Nature Protocols.
They provided step-by-step instructions for generating micrometer-sized agent-doped poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) particles using a single-emulsion evaporation technique, engineering cultured cells, and confirming particle internalization.
“Once those particles are internalized into the cells, which can take on the order of 6 to 24 hours, we can deliver the transplant immediately or even cryopreserve the cells,” said study author Jeffrey Karp, PhD, of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“When the cells are thawed at the patient’s bedside, they can be administered, and the agents will start to be released inside the cells to control differentiation, immune modulation, or matrix production, for example.”
Of course, it could take more than a decade for this type of cell therapy to be a common medical practice. But Dr Karp and his colleagues detailed this research in Nature Protocols to encourage others in the scientific community to use the technique and potentially speed up the pace of this research.
The team’s paper shows the range of different cell types that can be particle-engineered, including stem cells, immune cells, and pancreatic cells.
“With this versatile platform . . . , we’ve demonstrated the ability to track cells in the body, control stem cell differentiation, and even change the way cells interact with immune cells,” said study author James Ankrum, PhD, who was a graduate student in Dr Karp’s lab when this research was conducted but is now at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
“We’re excited to see what applications other researchers will imagine using this platform.”