Multifunctional coatings shot in the arm for cell-based therapy

Multifunctional coatings can greatly enhance the effects of cell-based therapy, local medical professionals announced today based on their experiments.

Surface coating of living cells can be an effective tool in cell‐based therapy. In an experiment where probiotics were coated with polydopamine and chitosan for colitis treatment, the coated cells showed a strong ability to defend against erosion from gastric jounce and bile, more than 30 times more bioavailability in the gut and four times more accumulation in the inflamed tissue than those of uncoated bacteria, according to Dr Liu Jinyao of Renji Hospital, the leading researcher of the study.

Multifunctional coatings present a robust platform for developing multimodal cells for enhanced cell‐based therapy. The method can be used on a diverse array of cells, including bacteria, fungi and mammalian cells, to improve the effects of cell therapy, Liu said.

The research was published by the journal Advanced Materials.