Bioengineered 3D microenvironments for in vitro T cell generation and CAR-T cell delivery

T cells are an essential arm of the adaptive immune system and are also harnessed as therapeutic agents for cancer immunotherapy. This thesis has focussed on the development of bioengineered 3-dimensional (3D) hydrogel microenvironments to address some of the unmet clinical needs related to T cells. This study demonstrates the suitability of hydrogel microstructures (microgels) as 3D culture platforms for in vitro generation of T cells with upscaling potential and for thymic epithelial cell maintenance. This research also investigates the feasibility of microgels as delivery vehicles of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells for augmenting solid tumour immunotherapy.