With the deepening of biomedical research and biotechnology industry, cell culture technology has become the key to promote its development. As an important innovation in the field of cell culture, microcarriers, with their unique advantages and wide application prospects, provide a new solution for cell proliferation, differentiation and delivery. In this article, we will take you into the world of microcarriers to find out what it is all about.
 

Microcarrier means a class of microspherical scaffolds with a diameter of 50-350 μm and a density slightly higher than that of water, which have biological functions such as cell culture, proliferation and delivery. In the process of cell proliferation and differentiation, it can adhere to cells and provide a supportive matrix for cells.
 

At first, adherent cell culture was performed by adding a certain number of small roller bottles to the culture medium to increase the adherent area for cell growth. This method is simple, low cost, good reproducibility, and the amplification process can rely on the increase in the number of roller bottles. However, the yield is low, labor-intensive and occupies a large space.
In 1967, Van Wezel introduced microcarriers for the first time using DEAE-Sephadex A-50 to break the limitations of traditional culture methods, providing new ideas and methods for the scale-up of adherent-dependent cell culture and laying the foundation for the subsequent development of microcarrier technology.
After that, scientists began to try to use the use of a variety of materials to prepare microsphere preparations, providing more options for the cultivation of different types of cells, promoting the development of cell culture technology, so that its application in biomedical research and biotechnology industry gradually expanded and appeared to be commercialized.

Adherent cells can only proliferate by adhering to the surface of solid matrix, so cell adhesion on the surface of microcarriers is the key to further spreading and growth. Adhesion mainly relies on electrostatic gravitational and van der Waals forces, and whether the cells can adhere on the microcarrier surface mainly depends on the contact probability and compatibility between the cells and the microcarrier.
 

(1) Electrostatic forces:
Generally the cell surface is negatively charged under physiological pH value, if the surface of the microcarrier is positively charged, the cells and the microcarrier can be attracted to each other through electrostatic attraction.
If the surface of the microcarrier is positively charged, the cells and the microcarrier can be attracted to each other by electrostatic attraction, accelerating the speed of cell attachment. If the microcarrier is negatively charged, there is electrostatic repulsion between the cells and the microcarrier, which is not conducive to cell attachment. However, the culture medium dissolved
However, when there is a divalent cation adsorbed on the surface of the microcarrier as a medium, the negatively charged cells can also be adhered to the negatively charged microcarrier.
However, there are also uncharged microcarriers, generally with a layer of collagen or gelatin on the surface, or surface-coupled fibronectin or fibronectin peptide.

(2) Van der Waals forces:
In addition to electrostatic forces of attraction, van der Waals forces also exist between cells and microcarriers. Van der Waals force is a kind of intermolecular force, which also exists between cells and microcarriers, and it can make cells and microcarriers attract each other and adhere to the wall.
In addition to the nature of the charge on the surface of the microcarrier, it is also possible to change the nature of the charge on the surface of the microcarrier by chemical modification and other methods to modulate the interaction between the cell and the microcarrier, thereby optimizing the cell apposition effect.
Etc:
Surface hydrophilicity: Hydrophilic surfaces favor cell adhesion and spreading, while hydrophobic surfaces may inhibit cell attachment.
Surface morphology: smooth surfaces favor cell expansion, while porous surfaces may slow cell expansion.
 

The most common classification of microcarriers is based on materials, including dextran microcarriers, gelatin microcarriers, cellulose microcarriers, polystyrene microcarriers, chitosan microcarriers, polyurethane foam microcarriers, alginate gel microcarriers, magnetic microcarriers and other microcarriers. And because these raw materials can be formed into a variety of different shapes, and can be classified according to the shape of the common spherical, flaky, fibrous, tubular, microporous and so on.

Microcarriers play an important role in biomedical research and biotechnology industry due to their excellent performance and diverse application scenarios. There are many types of microcarriers, and microcarriers made of different materials have their own characteristics, and their performance and scope of application are also different. In order to help you know more about microcarriers, we will introduce various kinds of microcarriers made of different materials in detail in the following articles, so stay tuned and let's explore more mysteries of microcarriers together!

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