Engineering a versatile and retrievable cell macroencapsulation device for the delivery of therapeutic proteins
Julien Grogg,
Remi Vernet,
Emily Charrier,
Muriel Urwyler,
Olivier Von Rohr,
Valentin Saingier,
Fabien Courtout,
Aurelien Lathuiliere,
Nicolas Gaudenzio,
Adrien Engel,
Nicolas Mach
Affiliations
Julien Grogg
Department of Oncology, Geneva University Hospitals and Medical School, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Translational Research in Onco-Hematology, Oncology Division, Geneva University Hospital and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; MaxiVAX SA, Geneva, Switzerland; Corresponding author
Remi Vernet
Department of Oncology, Geneva University Hospitals and Medical School, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Translational Research in Onco-Hematology, Oncology Division, Geneva University Hospital and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Emily Charrier
Department of Oncology, Geneva University Hospitals and Medical School, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Translational Research in Onco-Hematology, Oncology Division, Geneva University Hospital and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; MaxiVAX SA, Geneva, Switzerland
Muriel Urwyler
Department of Oncology, Geneva University Hospitals and Medical School, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Translational Research in Onco-Hematology, Oncology Division, Geneva University Hospital and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Olivier Von Rohr
Department of Oncology, Geneva University Hospitals and Medical School, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Translational Research in Onco-Hematology, Oncology Division, Geneva University Hospital and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Valentin Saingier
Department of Oncology, Geneva University Hospitals and Medical School, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Translational Research in Onco-Hematology, Oncology Division, Geneva University Hospital and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Fabien Courtout
Department of Oncology, Geneva University Hospitals and Medical School, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Translational Research in Onco-Hematology, Oncology Division, Geneva University Hospital and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Aurelien Lathuiliere
Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
Nicolas Gaudenzio
Toulouse Institute for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases (Infinity) INSERM UMR1291 - CNRS UMR5051 - University Toulouse III, Toulouse, France; Genoskin SAS, Toulouse, France
Adrien Engel
Department of Oncology, Geneva University Hospitals and Medical School, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Translational Research in Onco-Hematology, Oncology Division, Geneva University Hospital and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; MaxiVAX SA, Geneva, Switzerland
Nicolas Mach
Department of Oncology, Geneva University Hospitals and Medical School, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Translational Research in Onco-Hematology, Oncology Division, Geneva University Hospital and University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Summary: Encapsulated cell therapy holds a great potential to deliver sustained levels of highly potent therapeutic proteins to patients and improve chronic disease management. A versatile encapsulation device that is biocompatible, scalable, and easy to administer, retrieve, or replace has yet to be validated for clinical applications. Here, we report on a cargo-agnostic, macroencapsulation device with optimized features for protein delivery. It is compatible with adherent and suspension cells, and can be administered and retrieved without burdensome surgical procedures. We characterized its biocompatibility and showed that different cell lines producing different therapeutic proteins can be combined in the device. We demonstrated the ability of cytokine-secreting cells encapsulated in our device and implanted in human skin to mobilize and activate antigen-presenting cells, which could potentially serve as an effective adjuvant strategy in cancer immunization therapies. We believe that our device may contribute to cell therapies for cancer, metabolic disorders, and protein-deficient diseases.
