There are hundreds of clinical trials of cell therapy currently underway, but simple cell infusions lead to large-scale cell death, little control over cell fate, and a typically poor clinical outcome. We propose to use biomaterial systems that act as cell carriers or attractors of host cell populations, and in either case the material then programs the cells in vivo and ultimately disperses the cells. Key features of these material systems include the ability to control in space and time the presence of chemotactic molecules to recruit and/or disperse cells, and immobilization of signals that regulate cell activation/differentiation of cells in contact with the material. The potential utility of this approach will be demonstrated with examples from regenerative medicine and cancer immunotherapy.
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