Novel hepatocyte encapsulation enhances cellular functions

We have synthesized a HEMA, MMA and MAA terpolymer to complex with modified collagen for encapsulation of rat hepatocytes. The encapsulated hepatocytes exhibited high level of functions in culture comparable to those of hepatocyte spheroids. The collagen that lined the inner layer of the capsule provided a compatible substrate for hepatocyte culture, and the outer terpolymer shell determined permeability, which was optimized for transport of 60 kDa but not 150 kDa molecules. Besides shorter processing time than spheroid formation, the encapsulation may offer other advantages important in designing a bioartificial liver-assisted device.