title: Microfabrication of a tunable collagen/alginate-chitosan hydrogel membrane for controlling cell-cell interactions.
abstract: Indirect cell contact co-culture system is increasingly becoming more attractable owing to their advantages of easy cell separation and desirable outcomes for cell-cell interactions. However, how to precisely control the spatial position of cells within multicellular co-cultures is still experimentally challenging due to the incapability of the conventional methods in vitro. In the present study, a tunable collagen/alginate-chitosan (Col/Alg-Chi) membrane was established, which was capable of controlling intercellular distance between the neighboring cells at a level of micrometer resolution. It was showed that intercellular distance between the hepatocytes and the fibroblasts exerted significant influence on hepatic function in vitro. In particular, maintenance of the functionality of primary hepatocytes requires direct contact between the hepatocytes and their supportive stromal cells, and their effective contact distance is within 30μm. This technical platform would potentially enable investigations of dynamic cell-cell interaction in a multitude of applications including organogenesis, development or even neoplastic transformation.
authors: Laboratory of Biomedical Material Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, PR China.
authors: Yizhe
authors: Y
authors: Song
authors: Laboratory of Biomedical Material Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, PR China.
authors: Demeng
authors: D
authors: Zhang
authors: Laboratory of Biomedical Material Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, PR China.
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Lv
authors: Laboratory of Biomedical Material Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023, PR China.
authors: Xin
authors: X
authors: Guo
authors: Laboratory of Biomedical Material Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023, PR China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 Yuquan Road, Beijing, 100049, PR China.
authors: Ruyun
authors: R
authors: Lou
authors: Laboratory of Biomedical Material Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023, PR China.
authors: Shujun
authors: S
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Histology and Embryology, College of Basic Medical Science, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, 116044, PR China. Electronic address: panpan1210@dicp.ac.cn.
authors: Xiuli
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: Laboratory of Biomedical Material Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023, PR China. Electronic address: yuwt@dicp.ac.cn.
authors: Weiting
authors: W
authors: Yu
authors: Laboratory of Biomedical Material Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian, 116023, PR China.
authors: Xiaojun
authors: X
authors: Ma
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002450:Cell Communication; D002460:Cell Line; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D048271:Chitosan; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology*; D020723:Glucuronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / Q000737:chemistry*; D008297:Male; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D055616:Microtechnology; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; D020723:Glucuronic Acid; D048271:Chitosan
keywords: Cell–cell interactions; Collagen/alginate-chitosan hydrogel membrane; Indirect cell contact co-culture; Intercellular distance