Recent progress in research and application of engineered implanted cells for biomedical applications

Abstract

Background: The core concept of cell engineering is the use of synthetic biological methods to engineer and design genetically modified cells with specific functions, which has revolutionized the biotechnology industry and cell therapy. Implanted cells play an important role in the cell therapy, but the currently used implanted cells are unable to fully meet the needs of researchers and clinicians. Therefore, the construction of engineered implanted cells has become a new research area, with many groups exploring the working principles of implanted cells, allowing them to better exert their repair function.

Results: Based on the existing cell engineering platforms, this paper summarizes the main types of chassis cells used in implanted cell engineering, progress in the development of gene editing tools and delivery systems, as well as strategies for the construction of engineered implanted cells.

Conclusions: The rational use of synthetic biology methods to program and control the function of implanted cells with high spatiotemporal accuracy provides new ideas for the development of cell therapy, and opens up new possibilities for exploring the mechanism of implanted cell action to allow them to better exert their role in promoting the progress of repair.

Author summary

The engineering transformation allows implanted cells to achieve optimal therapeutic effect in cell therapy. This review introduces the application of engineered implanted cells in the cell therapy, and how to equip the chassis cell with new functions to enhance or redirect their natural ability to achieve corresponding medical effects. We expect this review to draw attention to the use of synthetic biology ideas in the field of cell therapy that the rational use of synthetic biology methods provides new ideas for the development of cell therapy and new possibilities for exploring the mechanism of the implanted cell.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

chassis cells / cell therapy / engineered implanted cells / synthetic biology

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work was financially supported by National Key Research and Development Project of China (No. 2018YFA0900100), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31961133019), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31670091). The National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31961133019) is part of MIX-UP, a joint NSFC and EU H2020 collaboration. In Europe, MIX-UP has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 870294.

COMPLIANCE WITH ETHICS GUIDELINES

The authors Tianying Chen, Xue Zhang, and Qiong Wu declare that they have no conflict of interests.

All procedures performed in studies were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2021 The Author(s) 2021. Published by Higher Education Press