Edinburgh: Thermally-sensitive polymers for trapping and harvesting cells

Licensing opportunity

Researchers at Edinburgh University have developed a range of cell-specific, thermally-sensitive synthetic hydrogels that make it possible to harvest cells by transiently lowering the temperature.

Unlike traditional methods for harvesting cells, temperature reduction is unlikely to cause the cellular damage or cleavage of cell surface proteins often seen with existing methods.

To date, several factors have limited the used of thermosensitive materials in cell cultivation. Some polymers become opaque, making surface analysis difficult, and the identification of a universal polymer for all cell types is probably unattainable given the diversity of cell surface receptors.

By creating ‘polymer hydrogel microarrays', the researchers have been able to rapidly identify ‘smart’ hydrogels for the binding and release of a range of cell lines including HELA, HEK-293, L929, B16F10 and mouse stem cells (E14).

They say the identification of polymers for cellular adherence and proliferation in combination with mild thermal release is possible for all cell types.

Key benefits include:

• Individual cell-specific, thermally-sensitive polymers have been identified;

• The polymers can be easily manufactured to GMP conditions;

• Polymer synthesis is cost -effective, straightforward and scalable;

• The technique has been shown to be effective for cellular adherence, proliferation and mild thermal release;

• This removes the requirement for physical and enzymatic cellular detachment, maintaining better cellular morphology and function.

Applications include the routine maintenance of cells in culture with enzyme-free passaging. The method is suitable for cell types known to be fragile/difficult to handle, and can also be used for single cell isolation and expansion.

The optimal hydrogels identified from the microarrays have been successfully scaled up, and demonstrated excellent cell binding, propagation, viability and detachment, with high recovery.

Edinburgh University is offering this technology to commercial organisations for licensing and/or a potential research collaboration for product development.

For more information, see the project’s website at: http://www.university-technology.com/details/thermally-sensitive-polymers-for-cellular-trapping-and-release