Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research ›› 2026, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (32): 8536-8543.doi: 10.12307/2026.470

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Material selection and manufacture method of non-porous adherent cell microcarriers

Sun Jingshan, Deng Jingqian, Qi Liya, Zhao Xiaohuan, Hou Dandan   

  1. SINOPEC (Beijing) Research Institute of Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., SINOPEC Key Laboratory of Medical and Sanitary Materials Research and Application, Beijing 100013, China
  • Accepted:2026-03-09 Online:2026-11-18 Published:2026-04-29
  • Contact: Hou Dandan PhD, Researcher, SINOPEC (Beijing) Research Institute of Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., SINOPEC Key Laboratory of Medical and Sanitary Materials Research and Application, Beijing 100013, China
  • About author:Sun Jingshan, MS, Assistant engineer, SINOPEC (Beijing) Research Institute of Chemical Industry Co., Ltd., SINOPEC Key Laboratory of Medical and Sanitary Materials Research and Application, Beijing 100013, China
  • Supported by:
    SINOPEC Funding Project, Nos. KL223009 and 225058 (to HDD)

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The key consumable item in stirred-tank bioreactors is non-porous microcarriers, which are suitable for adherent cell culture and play a significant role in the fabrication of viruses, recombinant proteins, and stem cells.
OBJECTIVE: To summarize the material selection and manufacturing methods of non-porous microcarriers based on the favorable conditions for cell-microcarrier adhesion. 
METHODS: A computerized search of CNKI, PubMed, and Web of Science databases was performed with the search terms “cell cultivation, adherent cells, microcarrier, fibronectin, bioreactor, microsphere preparation” in Chinese and “cell adhesion, microcarrier, bioreactor, dextran, cell-matrix interaction, suspension culture” in English. The search time limit was from 1967 to 2025. After screening according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 52 articles were finally included for summary analysis.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Non-porous microcarriers are suitable for adherent cell culture at a density of 109-1010 cells/L. Due to the requirements for cell adhesion, non-porous microcarriers need to provide appropriate surface positive charge or integrin binding sites. Non-porous microcarriers made of dextran, polystyrene, and collagen have been commercialized and can widely support large-scale culture of various cell types. While reports exist of large-scale cell culture using non-porous microcarriers made of chitosan and cellulose, these new materials have not yet been commercialized. Dextran and polystyrene microcarriers have been commercialized for a long time, with mature preparation methods including cross-linking and polymerization, respectively. Collagen and cellulose microcarriers are mostly prepared using cross-linking methods, while chitosan microcarriers can be prepared using both cross-linking and phase inversion methods.


Key words: cell cultivation, adherent cell, microcarrier, dextran, chitosan, polystyrene, cellulose, collagen

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