title: Microfluidic Generation of Porous Microcarriers for Three-Dimensional Cell Culture.
abstract: Inspired by the microstructure of the stem cell niche, which is generally composed of adjacent cell protection layers and an extracellular matrix (ECM), we present novel microfluidic porous microcarriers for cell culture that consist of external-internal connected scaffold structures and biopolymer matrix fillers. The biomimetic scaffold structure of the porous microcarriers not only avoids the imposition of shear forces on the encapsulated cells but also provides a confined microenvironment for cell self-assembly, whereas the biopolymers in the porous cores of the microcarriers can act as an ECM microenvironment to promote the formation of multicellular spheroid aggregates for biomedical applications.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University , Nanjing 210096, China.|Laboratory of Environment and Biosafety, Research Institute of Southeast University in Suzhou , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University , Nanjing 210096, China.|Laboratory of Environment and Biosafety, Research Institute of Southeast University in Suzhou , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University , Nanjing 210096, China.|Laboratory of Environment and Biosafety, Research Institute of Southeast University in Suzhou , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Yunru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University , Nanjing 210096, China.|Laboratory of Environment and Biosafety, Research Institute of Southeast University in Suzhou , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Fanfan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University , Nanjing 210096, China.|Laboratory of Environment and Biosafety, Research Institute of Southeast University in Suzhou , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Zhuoyue
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University , Nanjing 210096, China.|Laboratory of Environment and Biosafety, Research Institute of Southeast University in Suzhou , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Yuanjin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University , Nanjing 210096, China.|Laboratory of Environment and Biosafety, Research Institute of Southeast University in Suzhou , Suzhou 215123, China.
authors.forename: Zhongze
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006801:Humans; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000379:methods*; D016062:Porosity; D018874:Spheroids, Cellular / Q000166:cytology
keywords: cell culture; cell spheroid; microcarrier; microfluidics; niche