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Updated: May 16, 2026

Sandwich-like Microenvironments to Harness Cell/Material Interactions
Published on: August 4, 2015
Dynamic microenvironments: the fourth dimension
Mark W Tibbitt1, Kristi S Anseth
1Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
Abstract:
The extracellular space, or cell microenvironment, choreographs cell behavior through myriad controlled signals, and aberrant cues can result in dysfunction and disease. For functional studies of human cell biology or expansion and delivery of cells for therapeutic purposes, scientists must decipher this intricate map of microenvironment biology and develop ways to mimic these functions in vitro. In this Perspective, we describe technologies for four-dimensional (4D) biology: cell-laden matrices engineered to recapitulate tissue and organ function in 3D space and over time.
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