About this Research Topic

Background

Approved cells and cellular products (i.e. extracellular vesicles) for cell-based therapy applications carry a huge promise for the treatment of a broad variety of diseases and several (stem) cell therapies. However, the therapeutic potential of cells is not fully exploited at present. On the one hand, outdated culture conditions are still used during cultivation. On the other hand, technological hurdles block the way to efficient and safe cell-based therapy products.

Traditional cell culture conditions do not represent the physiological conditions of the cellular native environment. For example, two dimensional plastic surfaces, media with animal-derived compounds and ambient oxygen concentrations are used as standard conditions in many labs and bioprocesses. However, these conditions may not only provoke non-physiological behavior of the cells but also genetic instability. By contrast, 3D cultivation, chemically defined animal-free media or hypoxic (physiologic) oxygen concentrations have been found to enhance therapeutic potential of cells and cellular products (i.e. extracellular vesicles) for cell-based therapies. Altering physical, chemical and biological parameters to support the therapeutic properties of cells is often accompanied by technological advances. The aim of this Research Topic is to highlight recent advances in cell culture technologies to boost cell-based therapies. This Research Topic will give an overview on novel tools to increase the therapeutic potential of cells and cellular products.

We welcome the contributions of Original Research Articles, Reviews, Methods, Mini-Reviews and Perspectives regarding novel cell culture technologies that result in increased therapeutic potential of cells and cellular products (i.e. extracellular vesicles) for cell-based therapy applications. This might include, but is not limited to:

• 3D culture approaches (aggregates/spheroids/organoids, influence of biomaterials and biomaterial functionalization)
• Optimization of media composition (i.e. chemically defined, xeno-free, animal-free media; but also optimization of parameters such as osmolarity, viscosity, etc.)
• Bioreactor cultivation (influence of mechanical loading, feeding strategies, etc.)
• Physical parameters (oxygen concentration/hypoxia)
• Biological parameters (co-cultivation, pre-conditioning with cytokines)
• Chemical parameters (influence of buffer systems, glucose / alternative carbohydrate sources, indicator-free cultivation)

This Research Topic is part of the Advanced Cell Culture Technologies to Boost Cell-Based Therapies series.

Keywords: 3D Cell Culture, Physiological Conditions, Cell-Based Therapy, Therapeutic Potential, Stem Cells

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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