Background/aims: The purpose of this work was to develop a new microcapsule and improve its physical properties, such as mechanical stability and permeability. Then we aimed to study its biological properties.
Methodology: Alginate, Heparin-Chitosan-Alginate, Heparin microcapsules (ALCAL) with good mechanical stability were made from the high voltage pulsing microcapsule shaping device with low-molecular-weight heparin sodium (LMWH), alginate (ALG) and chitosan (CS) by supramolecular lay-by-lay self-assembled technology. We tested their physical properties and microencapsulated hepatocytes by ALCAL to study their biological properties.
Results: It was found that the microcapsules had the smooth surface and the porous structure with interconnected pores from microscopic observation. The permeability experiment of microcapsules using FITC-BSA and FITC-IgG showed that the microcapsule had the molecular mass cut-off of 68-150kDa. The hepatocytes encapsulated in ALCAL microcapsule rapidly aggregated on the core. The aggregated cells showed high albumin synthesis and glucose removal, which showed it had good metabolic function.
Conclusions: The current study revealed that ALCAL microcapsules might thus be a forefront for an alternative membrane to be investigated for cell encapsulation on the bioartifcial liver.