Chapter Five - Considerations for the use of biomaterials to support cell therapy in neurodegenerative disease

ElsevierVolume 166, 2022, Pages 191-205International Review of NeurobiologyAuthor links open overlay panelAbstract

Using biomaterials to complement cell therapies for a range of neurodegenerative disorders provides a potential opportunity to improve cell survival, integration and regeneration. Materials can be developed to serve as cell or drug delivery systems, temporary scaffolds or longer-term encapsulation structures. However, as yet clinical translation has been limited, with much work still required to achieve this. This chapter discusses a number of considerations for using biomaterials to support cell therapies, which are likely to be essential to achieve successful translation.

Section snippetsUsing biomaterials to support cell therapies

The treatment of neurodegenerative conditions often requires slow injection of small volumes of therapeutic cells into deep anatomical structures via long, thin cannulae in multiple injection tracts to target specific areas. As cells pass through the delivery device they are exposed to complex mechanical forces which have an impact on their viability and subsequent functionality following transplantation (Amer, Rose, Shakesheff, Modo, & White, 2017). The local forces experienced by cells can be

Considerations for the use of biomaterials

The following suggestions are not exhaustive, but are important for developing cell based therapies which may be combined with biomaterials and are summarized in Table 1. A lack of consideration for these early on can be a barrier to clinical translation.

Promising biomaterial and cell based therapies for neurodegenerative disease

To date, few clinical trials for cell therapies have included biomaterials despite the development of numerous potential biomaterial formulations, and a great deal of preclinical research in relevant models of disease (reviewed in Jarrin, Cabré, & Dowd, 2021). However, some biomaterial based approaches show particular promise for use in combination with cell therapies, including; structural support for cell delivery, targeted growth factor and small molecule delivery, and encapsulation of cells

Clinical translation

Combinations of the factors discussed above will have an impact on whether cell therapies incorporating biomaterials may be successfully translated to the clinic, and how long this may take. Much research is carried out into the use of novel biomaterials in combination with cell therapies, but whether these approaches can be successfully translated must be considered, including the feasibility of manufacturing a reproducible product under GMP which can be delivered to a patient by a clinician.

Conclusion

Biomaterial technologies have the potential to help address some of the challenges associated with the transplantation of cells into the CNS. For this to be effective, many factors must be taken into account, including some of the considerations discussed here. Biomaterial selection and formulation requires an understanding of chemical, biological and mechanical features of the materials and of the host tissue, in addition to the already formidable complexity of CNS cell transplantation. The

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