TY - JOUR
T1 - Single-Cell Microgels
T2 - Technology, Challenges, and Applications
AU - Kamperman, Tom
AU - Karperien, Marcel
AU - Le Gac, Séverine
AU - Leijten, Jeroen
PY - 2018/8
Y1 - 2018/8
N2 - Single-cell-laden microgels effectively act as the engineered counterpart of the smallest living building block of life: a cell within its pericellular matrix. Recent breakthroughs have enabled the encapsulation of single cells in sub-100-μm microgels to provide physiologically relevant microniches with minimal mass transport limitations and favorable pharmacokinetic properties. Single-cell-laden microgels offer additional unprecedented advantages, including facile manipulation, culture, and analysis of individual cell within 3D microenvironments. Therefore, single-cell microgel technology is expected to be instrumental in many life science applications, including pharmacological screenings, regenerative medicine, and fundamental biological research. In this review, we discuss the latest trends, technical challenges, and breakthroughs, and present our vision of the future of single-cell microgel technology and its applications.
AB - Single-cell-laden microgels effectively act as the engineered counterpart of the smallest living building block of life: a cell within its pericellular matrix. Recent breakthroughs have enabled the encapsulation of single cells in sub-100-μm microgels to provide physiologically relevant microniches with minimal mass transport limitations and favorable pharmacokinetic properties. Single-cell-laden microgels offer additional unprecedented advantages, including facile manipulation, culture, and analysis of individual cell within 3D microenvironments. Therefore, single-cell microgel technology is expected to be instrumental in many life science applications, including pharmacological screenings, regenerative medicine, and fundamental biological research. In this review, we discuss the latest trends, technical challenges, and breakthroughs, and present our vision of the future of single-cell microgel technology and its applications.
KW - hydrogels
KW - microenvironments
KW - microfabrication
KW - microfluidics
KW - regenerative medicine
KW - single cell analysis
KW - 3D culture
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85045293118&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.tibtech.2018.03.001
DO - 10.1016/j.tibtech.2018.03.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85045293118
SN - 0167-7799
VL - 36
SP - 850
EP - 865
JO - Trends in biotechnology
JF - Trends in biotechnology
IS - 8
ER -