Label-free cell sorting strategies via biophysical and biochemical gradients

Publication date: Available online 26 February 2019Source: Journal of Orthopaedic TranslationAuthor(s): Zhengkun Chen, Xiaohe Luo, Xin Zhao, Mo Yang, Chunyi WenAbstractIsolating active mesenchymal stem cells from a heterogeneous population is an essential step that determines the efficacy of stem cell therapy such as for osteoarthritis. Nowadays, the gold standard of cell sorting, fluorescence-activated cell sorting, relies on labelling surface markers via antibody–antigen reaction. However, sorting stem cells with high stemness usually requires the labelling of multiple biomarkers. Moreover, the labelling process is costly, and the high operating pressure is harmful to cell functionality and viability. Although label-free cell sorting, based on physical characteristics, has gained increasing interest in the past decades, it has not shown the ability to eliminate stem cells with low stemness. Cell motility, as a novel sorting marker, is hence proposed for label-free sorting active stem cells. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated the feasibility in manipulating directional cell migration through patterning the biophysical, biochemical or both gradients of the extracellular matrix. However, applying those findings to label-free cell sorting has not been well discussed and studied. This review thus first provides a brief overview about the effect of biophysical and biochemical gradients of the extracellular matrix on cell migration. State-of-the-art fabrication techniques f...

Source: Journal of Orthopaedic Translation - February 26, 2019 Category: Orthopaedics Source Type: research