Abstract
Cell-based therapy has expanded its influence in cancer immunotherapy, regenerative medicine, and tissue engineering. Due to their secretory functions, differentiation capabilities, specific homing effects through chemotaxis, distinctive therapeutic potentials, and ex vivo expandability, cells have become an attractive reagent for advanced therapeutic strategies. Therefore, the ability to modify cells and manipulate their functions according to intended therapeutic designs has been the central scientific interest in the field of biomedical research. Many innovative methods have been developed with genetic modification of cells being the most advanced cell surface engineering technique. Although genetic modification is a powerful tool, it has a limited applicability due to the permanent modifications made on cells. Alternatively, many endeavors have been made to develop surface engineering techniques that can circumvent the limitations of genetic modification. In this review, current methods of non-genetic cell surface modification, including chemical conjugations, polymeric encapsulation, hydrophobic insertion, enzymatic and metabolic addition, will be introduced. Moreover, cell surface engineering plausible for cardiac remodeling and the future prospective will be discussed at the end.
Highlights
Cell surface engineering to provide new characteristics and functions to cells has drawn continuous interest from researchers in biomedical science as cell therapy has emerged as a prominent therapeutic strategy equivalent and complementary to the conventional therapeutic approaches
To overcome the low retention rates and enhance the target homing effect, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were genetically engineered to overexpress CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4), a receptor for stromal-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) expressed in injured myocardium [12]
Cell therapy has advanced to the point where it aims to provide treatments for tissue degeneration, chronic inflammation, autoimmunity, genetic disorders, cancer, and infectious diseases [84]
Summary
Cell surface engineering to provide new characteristics and functions to cells has drawn continuous interest from researchers in biomedical science as cell therapy has emerged as a prominent therapeutic strategy equivalent and complementary to the conventional therapeutic approaches.
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