Browsing by Author "Li, Yuan-Sheng"

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Functional Cells Cultured on Microcarriers for Use in Regenerative Medicine Research
(2011-01-01)
Sun, Li-Yi
;
Lin, Shinn-Zong
;
Li, Yuan-Sheng
;
Harn, Horng-Jyh
;
Chiou, Tzyy-Wen
Microcarriers have been successfully used for many years for growing anchorage-dependent cells and as a means of delivering cells for tissue repair. When cultured on microcarriers, the number of anchorage-dependent cells, including primary cells, can easily be scaled up and controlled to generate the quantities of cells necessary for therapeutic applications. Recently, stem cell technology has been recognized as a powerful tool in regenerative medicine, but adequate numbers of stem cells that retain their differentiation potential are still difficult to obtain. For anchorage-dependent stem cells, however, microcarrier-based suspension culture using various types of microcarriers has proven to be a good alternative for effective ex vivo expansion. In this article, we review studies reporting the expansion, differentiation, or transplantation of functional anchorage-dependent cells that were expanded with the microcarrier culture system. Thus, the implementation of technological advances in biodegradable microcarriers, the bead-to-bead transfer process, and appropriate stem cell media may soon foster the ability to produce the numbers of stem cells necessary for cell-based therapies and/or tissue engineering.