Encapsulation of sertoli cells in agarose-based microdevices for nerve repair: Preparation, characterization and in vitro biocompatibility

The present paper describes the production of livingguide intended as nerve conduit for nerve repair. Sertoli cells (SC) have recently gained a great importance since these interesting cells can improve both in vitro and in vivo functions and differentiation of many cell types. These properties have fostered intense researches to possibly apply SC to transplantation protocols. In this paper we present the encapsulation of SC in a agarosebased microdevices. For the production of agarose microconduits specialized extrusors were employed. Extrusors were designed and produced respectively using CAD-software and Derlin® . SC containing microconduits were in vitro characterized for cell viability.