UniTantrix® Dissolvable Microcarriers

Microcarriers are support matrices for cell attachment, growth, and expansion in mixing environments such as bioreactor systems. Cells are grown on the surface of small solid particles that are suspended in growth medium to enable cell adherence. In their simple form, microcarriers are 100- to 300-micron-beads that have sufficient density to maintain suspension during stirring. Microcarriers can be made of synthetic or natural polymers. These synthetic polymers include poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA), poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate), acrylamide, polystyrene and polyurethane. Although synthetic polymer manufactured microcarriers are highly reproducible, they tend to lack cell recognition sites, which limits their use in cell expansion applications. Natural polymers and their derivatives have received increasing attention due to their ease of availability and biocompatibility. Natural polymers used to make microcarriers include gelatin, collagen, cellulose, chitosan, etc.

Various animal cells such as mammalian, avian, fish and insect cells can be cultured on microcarriers. In addition, cells of broad histotypic origin, including primary cells, diploid cell strains, established or transformed cell lines, hybrid cell lines, and tumor cells, can be cultured on microcarriers. Cultured cells are the predominant expression system to produce biologics including viral vaccines, enzymes, hormones, antibodies, and other therapeutic proteins. The use of microcarriers reduces the time, expense, and equipment complexity required for routine propagation of anchorage-dependent cells. The growing prevalence of cell-based therapy and the growing need for vaccine production are driving the rapid growth in demand for the use of microcarriers.

Macroporous microcarriers can provide more internal growing spaces for cells and prevent damage from shear forces. However, one challenge associated with the microcarrier-based cell expansion is that these microcarriers need to be removed or separated from the final product and the downstream steps are usually accomplished through filtration and/or centrifugation. But these separation processes may result in the final product loss and cost issues. Amerigo Scientific offers UniTantrix™ dissolvable microcarriers that can avoid these problems.

UniTantrix® Microcarriers

UniTantrix® dissolvable macroporous microcarriers are manufactured with patented technology and have a unique pore structure with very high pore connectivity and surface area. The highly connective and uniform pores allow cells to adhere, proliferate, migrate, and differentiate within the microcarrier while enabling the exchange of nutrients, oxygen, and metabolic waste. UniTantrix® microcarriers are made from denatured collagen or other animal component-free materials without the chemical crosslinkers. This makes UniTantrix® microcarriers flexible mechanical properties and physical stability, both of which reduce the shear stress experienced by the cultured cells. In addition, collagen is readily dissolved by enzymes, allowing cell recovery to approach 100%.

UniTantrix® Scaffold-Like Microcarriers

Physical Specifications

Advantages of UniTantrix® microcarriers

Safety Certification

Application Example

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) were cultured on UniTantrix® Microcarriers.