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Truly Nonionic Polymer Shells for the Encapsulation of Living Cells
Author(s) -
Carter Jessica L.,
Drachuk Irina,
Harbaugh Svetlana,
KelleyLoughnane Nancy,
Stone Morley,
Tsukruk Vladimir V.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
macromolecular bioscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.924
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1616-5195
pISSN - 1616-5187
DOI - 10.1002/mabi.201100129
Subject(s) - cationic polymerization , polymer , membrane , encapsulation (networking) , viability assay , chemistry , nanotechnology , tissue engineering , biophysics , chemical engineering , materials science , polymer chemistry , cell , organic chemistry , biomedical engineering , biochemistry , biology , engineering , computer network , computer science
Engineering surfaces of living cells with natural or synthetic compounds can mediate intercellular communication and provide a protective barrier from hostile agents. We report on truly nonionic hydrogen‐bonded LbL coatings for cell surface engineering. These ultrathin, highly permeable polymer membranes are constructed on living cells without the cationic component typically employed to increase the stability of LbL coatings. Without the cytotoxic cationic PEI pre‐layer, the viability of encapsulated cells drastically increases to 94%, in contrast to 20% viability in electrostatically‐bonded LbL shells. Moreover, the long‐term growth of encapsulated cells is not affected, thus facilitating efficient function of protected cells in hostile environment.