ABSTRACT

Microencapsulation has been successfully used to grow a large number of mammalian cell types. The methods of encapsulation have been used to culture monoclonal antibody-secreting hybridomas. The major application of encapsulated mammalian cells is the production of monoclonal antibodies. The encapsulation process is gentle enough to permit a high degree of survivability and flexible enough to allow control over the porosity of the capsular membrane. The microencapsulated cells have been used to produce large quantities of monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins. Other applications include both in vivo and in vitro uses. Microencapsulated tumor cells have been used to assess the effect of various anticancer drugs in vivo. Human tumor cells were encapsulated and injected intraperitoneally into mice. The antitumor drugs to be tested were administered and the response of the encapsulated tumor cells measured. The drugs were found to cross the capsule membrane and act on the tumor cells inside the capsules.