Maintaining cells for an extended time by entrapment in a contracted

Abstract

Methods of maintaining animal cells for product production, for supporting hepatocyte function and viability to treat a patient suffering from hepatic failure and for preserving tissue-specific function of mammalian cells are carried out with a bioreactor containing a feed and waste chamber and a cell chamber separated by a selectively permeable membrane. Within the cell chamber, a biocompatible contracted three-dimensional gel matrix entraps animal cells or genetic modifications thereof, and a liquid phase contains a concentrated solution of the cell product. The bioreactor uses only two chambers to achieve three distinct zones within the bioreactor. The bioreactor can be of either hollow fiber or flat-bed configuration. In the configuration using hollow fibers, the two fluid paths correspond to the cavity surrounding the hollow fibers (the extracapillary space), and to the lumens of the hollow fibers themselves. Both fluid paths have inlet and outlet ports. Communication between the two fluid paths is across the permeable medium--the hollow fiber material. To prepare a bioartificial liver, hepatocytes are inoculated into the hollow fibers in a solution which quickly forms a highly porous gel. The gel subsequently contracts, leaving an open channel within the hollow fiber adjacent to the gel core entrapped hepatocytes. This channel can be perfused with nutrient media for hepatocytes. The channel can also serve as a waste stream to remove toxins that the hepatocytes have modified to a water soluble form.