title: Biofunctionalized Hydrogel Microscaffolds Promote 3D Hepatic Sheet Morphology.
abstract: Development of artificial tissues providing the proper geometrical, mechanical, and environmental cues for cells is highly coveted in the field of tissue engineering. Recently, microfabrication strategies in combination with other chemistries have been utilized to capture the architectural complexity of intricate organs, such as the liver, in in vitro platforms. Here it is shown that a biofunctionalized poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel scaffold, fabricated using a sphere-template, facilitates hepatic sheet formation that follows the microscale patterns of the scaffold surface. The design takes advantage of the excellent diffusion properties of porous, uniform 3D hydrogel platforms, and the enhanced-cell-extracellular matrix interaction with the display of conjugated collagen type I, which in turn elicits favorable Huh-7.5 response. Collectively, the experimental findings and corresponding simulations demonstrate the importance of biofunctionalized porous scaffolds and indicate that the microscaffold shows promise in liver tissue engineering applications and provides distinct advantages over current cell sheet and hepatocyte spheroid technologies.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.|Centre for Biomimetic Sensor Science, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
authors.forename: Myung Hee
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.|Centre for Biomimetic Sensor Science, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
authors.forename: Supriya K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.|Centre for Biomimetic Sensor Science, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
authors.forename: Hitomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shirahama
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.|Centre for Biomimetic Sensor Science, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
authors.forename: Jeongeun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.|Centre for Biomimetic Sensor Science, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.
authors.forename: Jae-Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Boreskov Institute of Catalysis, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia.
authors.forename: Vladimir P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Zhdanov
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.|Centre for Biomimetic Sensor Science, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore.|School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 62 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 637459, Singapore.
authors.forename: Nam-Joon
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry; D018874:Spheroids, Cellular / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; C000595209:polyethylene glycol 1000
keywords: biofunctionalization; cellular adhesion; liver tissue engineering; microfabrication; poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels