TNF-alpha induced release of pro-inflammatory proteins by cystic fibrosis IB3-1 cells encapsulated in alginate microbeads

The inflammatory processes activated in cystic fibrosis are complex and need the development of specific systems to possibly study the mechanism of bacterial activation of cystic fibrosis cells, as well as the effect of the secreted chemokines on target cell populations. To this aim, we have developed an ionic alginate microencapsulation procedure for the entrapment and manipulation of IB3-1 cystic fibrosis cells. This microencapsulation procedure does not alter viability and the secretomic profile of encapsulated IB3-1 cells. Most of the analyzed proteins (members of the interleukin family, chemokines, growth factors and soluble forms of adhesion molecules), using Bio-plex technology, were secreted both by the free and encapsulated cells, even if in a different extent. In order to determine the biotechnological applications of this procedure, encapsulated and free IB3-1 cells were treated with TNF-alpha and after 24 hours the culture media from both cell populations were collected. As expected, TNF-alpha induced a sharp increase in the secretion of interleukins, chemokines and growth factors. Of great interest was the evidence that induction of IL-6 and IL-8 occurs also by encapsulated IB3-1 cells. In conclusion, the encapsulation of secreting cells in alginate microbeads represents a promising strategy for biotechnology applications in tissue engineering and biomedicine.