Interface-directed self-assembly of cell-laden microgels.
Cell-laden hydrogels show great promise for creating engineered tissues. However, a major shortcoming with these systems has been the inability to fabricate structures with controlled micrometer-scale features on a biologically relevant length scale. In this Full Paper, a rapid method is demonstrated for creating centimeter-scale, cell-laden hydrogels through the assembly of shape-controlled microgels or a liquid-air interface. Cell-laden microgels of specific shapes are randomly placed on the surface of a high-density, hydrophobic solution, induced to aggregate and then crosslinked into macroscale tissue-like structures. The resulting assemblies are cell-laden hydrogel sheets consisting of tightly packed, ordered microgel units. In addition, a hierarchical approach creates complex multigel building blocks, which are then assembled into tissues with precise spatial control over the cell distribution. The results demonstrate that forces at an air-liquid interface can be used to self-assemble spatially controllable, cocultured tissue-like structures.
Zamanian
Behnam
B
Center for Biomedical Engineering Department of Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Masaeli
Mahdokht
M
Nichol
Jason W
JW
Khabiry
Masoud
M
Hancock
Matthew J
MJ
Bae
Hojae
H
Khademhosseini
Ali
A
D000818:Animals; D002449:Cell Aggregation; D002470:Cell Survival; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology*; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D051379:Mice; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
D020100:Hydrogels