Sweet and sticky: increased cell adhesion through click-mediated functionalization of regenerative liver progenitor cells
Abstract The burgeoning field of cell therapies is rapidly expanding, offering the promise to tackle complex and unsolved healthcare problems. One prominent example is represented by CAR T-cells, which have been introduced into the clinic for treating a variety of cancers. Promising cell therapeutic...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Communications Biology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08408-x |
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| author | Amaziah R. Alipio Melissa R. Vieira Tamara Haefeli Lisa Hoelting Olivier Frey Alicia J. El Haj Maria C. Arno |
| author_facet | Amaziah R. Alipio Melissa R. Vieira Tamara Haefeli Lisa Hoelting Olivier Frey Alicia J. El Haj Maria C. Arno |
| author_sort | Amaziah R. Alipio |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The burgeoning field of cell therapies is rapidly expanding, offering the promise to tackle complex and unsolved healthcare problems. One prominent example is represented by CAR T-cells, which have been introduced into the clinic for treating a variety of cancers. Promising cell therapeutics have also been developed to promote tissue regeneration, showing high potencies for the treatment of damaged liver. Nevertheless, in the remit of regenerative medicine, cell-therapy efficacies remain suboptimal as a consequence of the low engraftment of injected cells to the existing surrounding tissue. Herein, we present a facile approach to enhance the adhesion and engraftment of therapeutic hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) through specific and homogeneous cell surface modification with exogenous polysaccharides, without requiring genetic modification. Coated HPCs exhibit significantly increased markers of adhesion and cell spreading and demonstrate preferential interactions with certain extra-cellular matrix proteins. Moreover, they display enhanced binding to endothelial cells and 3D liver microtissues. This translatable methodology shows promise for improving therapeutic cell engraftment, offering a potential alternative to liver transplantation in end-stage liver disease. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-40d7849c78574ea7a448e21bbe943f6a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2399-3642 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Communications Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-40d7849c78574ea7a448e21bbe943f6a2025-08-20T03:46:19ZengNature PortfolioCommunications Biology2399-36422025-07-018111310.1038/s42003-025-08408-xSweet and sticky: increased cell adhesion through click-mediated functionalization of regenerative liver progenitor cellsAmaziah R. Alipio0Melissa R. Vieira1Tamara Haefeli2Lisa Hoelting3Olivier Frey4Alicia J. El Haj5Maria C. Arno6School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham, EdgbastonHealthcare Technologies Institute, Institute of Translational Medicine, University of Birmingham, EdgbastonInSphero AG, Wagistrasse 27AInSphero AG, Wagistrasse 27AInSphero AG, Wagistrasse 27AHealthcare Technologies Institute, Institute of Translational Medicine, University of Birmingham, EdgbastonSchool of Chemistry, University of Birmingham, EdgbastonAbstract The burgeoning field of cell therapies is rapidly expanding, offering the promise to tackle complex and unsolved healthcare problems. One prominent example is represented by CAR T-cells, which have been introduced into the clinic for treating a variety of cancers. Promising cell therapeutics have also been developed to promote tissue regeneration, showing high potencies for the treatment of damaged liver. Nevertheless, in the remit of regenerative medicine, cell-therapy efficacies remain suboptimal as a consequence of the low engraftment of injected cells to the existing surrounding tissue. Herein, we present a facile approach to enhance the adhesion and engraftment of therapeutic hepatic progenitor cells (HPCs) through specific and homogeneous cell surface modification with exogenous polysaccharides, without requiring genetic modification. Coated HPCs exhibit significantly increased markers of adhesion and cell spreading and demonstrate preferential interactions with certain extra-cellular matrix proteins. Moreover, they display enhanced binding to endothelial cells and 3D liver microtissues. This translatable methodology shows promise for improving therapeutic cell engraftment, offering a potential alternative to liver transplantation in end-stage liver disease.https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08408-x |
| spellingShingle | Amaziah R. Alipio Melissa R. Vieira Tamara Haefeli Lisa Hoelting Olivier Frey Alicia J. El Haj Maria C. Arno Sweet and sticky: increased cell adhesion through click-mediated functionalization of regenerative liver progenitor cells Communications Biology |
| title | Sweet and sticky: increased cell adhesion through click-mediated functionalization of regenerative liver progenitor cells |
| title_full | Sweet and sticky: increased cell adhesion through click-mediated functionalization of regenerative liver progenitor cells |
| title_fullStr | Sweet and sticky: increased cell adhesion through click-mediated functionalization of regenerative liver progenitor cells |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sweet and sticky: increased cell adhesion through click-mediated functionalization of regenerative liver progenitor cells |
| title_short | Sweet and sticky: increased cell adhesion through click-mediated functionalization of regenerative liver progenitor cells |
| title_sort | sweet and sticky increased cell adhesion through click mediated functionalization of regenerative liver progenitor cells |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08408-x |
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