Morphology and metabolism of Ba-alginate encapsulated hepatocytes with galactosylated poly(allyl amine) and poly(vinyl alcohol) as extracellular matrices.

Lactobionic acid, bearing a beta -galactose group, was coupled with poly(allyl amine) to provide synthetic extracellular matrices together with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). The hepatocytes were encapsulated in Ba-alginate capsules with galactosylated poly(allyl amine) (GA) and PVA as extracellular matrices. From microscopic observation, it was revealed that the microcapsule prepared has a highly porous structure with interconnected pores and pore sizes ranging between 50-150 nm on both the surface and the cross-section. It was found, from the permeability experiment of microcapsules using FITC-dextrans with different molecular weights, that the capsule has a molecular weight cut off (MWCO) of 120 kDa, showing the potential that it can function as an immunoprotecting wall. The hepatocytes, cultured with GA and PVA in the core of the microcapsule, rapidly aggregated within a day, thus resulting in good metabolic functions such as albumin synthesis and ammonia removal.