Fabrication of cell-benign inverse opal hydrogels for three-dimensional cell culture.
Inverse opal hydrogels (IOHs) for cell culture were fabricated and optimized using calcium-crosslinked alginate microbeads as sacrificial template and gelatin as a matrix. In contrast to traditional three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds, the gelatin IOHs allowed the utilization of both the macropore surface and inner matrix for cell co-culture. In order to remove templates efficiently for the construction of 3D interconnected macropores and to maintain high cell viability during the template removal process using EDTA solution, various factors in fabrication, including alginate viscosity, alginate concentration, alginate microbeads size, crosslinking calcium concentration, and gelatin network density were investigated. Low viscosity alginate, lower crosslinking calcium ion concentration, and lower concentration of alginate and gelatin were found to obtain high viability of cells encapsulated in the gelatin matrix after removal of the alginate template by EDTA treatment by allowing rapid dissociation and diffusion of alginate polymers. Based on the optimized fabrication conditions, gelatin IOHs showed good potential as a cell co-culture system, applicable to tissue engineering and cancer research.
School of Chemical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea.
Pilseon
P
Im
School of Chemical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea.
Dong Hwan
DH
Ji
School of Chemical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea.
Min Kyung
MK
Kim
School of Chemical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea; Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Science & Technology (SAIHST), Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon 16419, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: kimjaeyun@skku.edu.
Jaeyun
J
Kim
D000464:Alginates / Q000737:chemistry*; D002118:Calcium / Q000737:chemistry; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D002470:Cell Survival; D018920:Coculture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004492:Edetic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D005780:Gelatin / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D008863:Microspheres; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry
D000464:Alginates; D020100:Hydrogels; D005780:Gelatin; D004492:Edetic Acid; D002118:Calcium
Alginate; Co-culture; Gelatin; Inverse opal hydrogel; Macroporous scaffold