title: User-friendly 3D bioassays with cell-containing hydrogel modules: narrowing the gap between microfluidic bioassays and clinical end-users' needs.
abstract: Cell-containing hydrogel modules as cell-hydrogel microunits for creating a physiologically relevant 3D in vivo-like microenvironment with multiple cell types and unique extracellular matrix (ECM) compositions facilitate long-term cell maintenance and bioassays. To date, there have been many important advances in microfluidic bioassays, which incorporate hydrogel scaffolds into surface-accessible microchambers, driven by the strong demand for the application of spatiotemporally defined biochemical stimuli to construct in vivo-like conditions and perform real-time imaging of cell-matrix interactions. In keeping with the trend of fostering collaborations among biologists, clinicians, and microfluidic engineers, it is essential to create a simpler approach for coupling cell-containing hydrogel modules and an automated bioassay platform in a user-friendly format. In this article, we review recent progress in hydrogel-incorporated microfluidics for long-term cell maintenance and discuss some of the simpler and user-friendly 3D bioassay techniques combined with cell-containing hydrogel modules that can be applied to mutually beneficial collaborations with non-engineers. We anticipate that this modular and user-friendly format interfaced with existing laboratory infrastructure will help address several clinical questions in ways that extend well beyond the current 2D cell-culture systems.
authors: Department of Bio and Brain Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea. jekyun@kaist.ac.kr.
authors: Do-Hyun
authors: DH
authors: Lee
authors: Chae Yun
authors: CY
authors: Bae
authors: Seyong
authors: S
authors: Kwon
authors: Je-Kyun
authors: JK
authors: Park
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D002460:Cell Line; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; D051379:Mice; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate