title: Fabrication of three-dimensional cell constructs using temperature-responsive hydrogel.
abstract: A morphologically controlled three-dimensional (3D) cell construct composed of only cells and having no scaffold material might be a valuable biologic material for tissue engineering applications, as the scaffold materials can cause delay of tissue regeneration in some conditions. To obtain such a 3D cell construct, a 3D thermoresponsive hydrogel (poly-N-isopropylacrylamide) was prepared as a mold material that changes its volume depending on the temperature. Three-dimensional osteoblast cell constructs with a variety of morphologies as well as a monolayered cell sheet were obtained by decreasing the surrounding temperature of the hydrogel designed with a predefined shape and formed by curing in a polymer mold manufactured via 3D printing. The cell sheet or 3D cell constructs detachment resulted from a simple change in the gel volume, not by the surface chemistry of the gel, because the surface hydrophilicity of the gel was maintained over a wide temperature range. These 2D/3D cell constructs have numbers of exciting applications such as cell carriers for tissue regeneration or as model tissues for the biological study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oromaxillofacial Regeneration, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun-Ichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Taka-Aki
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Asoh
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Egusa
authors.forename: Taiji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sohmura
authors.forename: Eben
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alsberg
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akashi
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yatani
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D002460:Cell Line; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D051379:Mice; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D013499:Surface Properties; D013696:Temperature; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D020100:Hydrogels; C052970:poly-N-isopropylacrylamide