title: Point-, line-, and plane-shaped cellular constructs for 3D tissue assembly.
abstract: Microsized cellular constructs such as cellular aggregates and cell-laden hydrogel blocks are attractive cellular building blocks to reconstruct 3D macroscopic tissues with spatially ordered cells in bottom-up tissue engineering. In this regard, microfluidic techniques are remarkable methods to form microsized cellular constructs with high production rate and control of their shapes such as point, line, and plane. The fundamental shapes of the cellular constructs allow for the fabrication of larger arbitrary-shaped tissues by assembling them. This review introduces microfluidic formation methods of microsized cellular constructs and manipulation techniques to assemble them with control of their arrangements. Additionally, we show applications of the cellular constructs to biological studies and clinical treatments and discuss future trends as their potential applications.
authors.affiliation: Center for International Research on Integrative Biomedical Systems (CIBiS), Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan; Takeuchi Biohybrid Innovation Project, Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO), Japan Science and Technology (JST), Komaba Open Laboratory (KOL) Room M202, 4-6-1, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.affiliation: Center for International Research on Integrative Biomedical Systems (CIBiS), Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan; Takeuchi Biohybrid Innovation Project, Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO), Japan Science and Technology (JST), Komaba Open Laboratory (KOL) Room M202, 4-6-1, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan.
authors.forename: Amy Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Hsiao
authors.affiliation: Center for International Research on Integrative Biomedical Systems (CIBiS), Institute of Industrial Science (IIS), The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan; Takeuchi Biohybrid Innovation Project, Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology (ERATO), Japan Science and Technology (JST), Komaba Open Laboratory (KOL) Room M202, 4-6-1, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8904, Japan. Electronic address: takeuchi@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D044085:Microfluidics; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
keywords: 3D tissue fabrication; Bottom-up tissue engineering; Cellular building blocks; Clinical treatments; Microfluidic techniques