Creating polymer hydrogel microfibres with internal alignment via electrical and mechanical stretching.
Hydrogels have been widely used for 3-dimensional (3D) cell culture and tissue regeneration due to their tunable biochemical and physicochemical properties as well as their high water content, which resembles the aqueous microenvironment of the natural extracellular matrix. While many properties of natural hydrogel matrices are modifiable, their intrinsic isotropic structure limits the control over cellular organization, which is critical to restore tissue function. Here we report a generic approach to incorporate alignment topography inside the hydrogel matrix using a combination of electrical and mechanical stretching. Hydrogel fibres with uniaxial alignment were prepared from aqueous solutions of natural polymers such as alginate, fibrin, gelatin, and hyaluronic acid under ambient conditions. The unique internal alignment feature drastically enhances the mechanical properties of the hydrogel microfibres. Furthermore, the facile, organic solvent-free processing conditions are amenable to the incorporation of live cells within the hydrogel fibre or on the fibre surface; both approaches effectively induce cellular alignment. This work demonstrates a versatile and scalable strategy to create aligned hydrogel microfibres from various natural polymers.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Translational Tissue Engineering Centre, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
Shuming
S
Zhang
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Xi
X
Liu
Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Johns Hopkins Physical Sciences-Oncology Centre, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
Sebastian F
SF
Barreto-Ortiz
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
Yixuan
Y
Yu
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Translational Tissue Engineering Centre, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
Brian P
BP
Ginn
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
Nicholas A
NA
DeSantis
Translational Tissue Engineering Centre, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Daphne L
DL
Hutton
Translational Tissue Engineering Centre, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Warren L
WL
Grayson
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
Fu-Zhai
FZ
Cui
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
Brian A
BA
Korgel
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Johns Hopkins Physical Sciences-Oncology Centre, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
Sharon
S
Gerecht
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Translational Tissue Engineering Centre, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA; Institute for NanoBioTechnology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA. Electronic address: hmao@jhu.edu.
Hai-Quan
HQ
Mao
D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D060833:Cellular Microenvironment; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D053838:Scattering, Small Angle
D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D020100:Hydrogels; D011108:Polymers
Alginate; Fibrin; Hyaluronic acid; Hydrogel; Microstructure