title: Stochastic model of self-assembly of cell-laden hydrogels.
abstract: Recent progress in bottom-up tissue engineering has demonstrated that three-dimensional tissue constructs with predefined architectures may be obtained by assembling shape-controlled hydrogels in multiphase reactor systems. Driven by the hydrophobic force between gel unit and liquid media, highly ordered hydrogel clusters can be formed. Many complex factors occurring at microscale (i.e., gel unit collisions, hydrophobic forces, and gel unit movement) are involved in the self-assembly process. In this paper a two-dimensional off-lattice Monte Carlo model with Lennard-Jones-type potential describing unit-unit interactions is introduced for studying this process. Simulations are shown to agree well with the experimental results for hydrogel assembly in mineral oil. The simulation method is demonstrated for rectangular hydrogel units of different aspect ratios as well as extended to the case of more complex hydrogel unit geometries.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Mathematics and Physics and Center for the Study of Biocomplexity, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556-5670, USA.
authors.forename: Zhenyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yanan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khademhosseini
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alber
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008954:Models, Biological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D013269:Stochastic Processes; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels