This technology allows the development of a trypsin-free passaging system that could allow passage of stem cells without inducing differentiation, produces passaged cells with less damage than those treated by the traditional method and is useful in tissue engineering and is useful in tissue engineering, as it facilitates removal of cells without destroying the structure of the extracellular matrix.
Researchers at the University of Sheffield have developed a hyperbranched thermoresponsive polymer which is soluble in aqueous media below a critical emperature, known as the lower critical solution temperature (LCST). When the temperature of the media is raised above the LCST, the polymer forms primary particles which aggregate and, unlike other thermoresponsive polymers which form a solid mass, our polymer forms a colloidal dispersion of sub-micron particles. This property means that the cells can be contacted with the polymer particles at temperatures above the LCST, causing cells to adhere to the polymer. In order to release cells from the polymer, the temperature of the solution is simply decreased below the LCST.
This technology is the subject a patent application that discloses this polymer and its uses in an array of possible applications. For further information please download the summary document below: