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Enhanced Viability for Ex vivo 3D Hydrogel Cultures of Patient-Derived Xenografts in a Perfused Microfluidic Platform
Published on: December 5, 2020
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Microfluidic-enabled bottom-up hydrogels from annealable naturally-derived protein microbeads
Amir Sheikhi1, Joseph de Rutte2, Reihaneh Haghniaz1
1Department of Bioengineering, University of California - Los Angeles, 410 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics (C-MIT), University of California - Los Angeles, 570 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), University of California - Los Angeles, 570 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Biomaterials
|December 12, 2018
Summary
Researchers developed novel 3D scaffolds using Gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) beads. These beaded GelMA (B-GelMA) scaffolds offer tunable stiffness and porosity for advanced tissue engineering applications.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Tissue Engineering
- Regenerative Medicine
Background:
- Naturally-derived proteins like gelatin are promising for tissue engineering.
- Gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) is a versatile scaffold material but has limitations in stiffness and porosity for certain 3D applications.
- High concentrations of bulk GelMA (>10 wt%) create stiff scaffolds with small pores, hindering 3D cellular engineering.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel 3D scaffold with decoupled stiffness and porosity using GelMA.
- To overcome the limitations of coupled stiffness and porosity in bulk GelMA for demanding 3D applications.
- To create a versatile platform for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Main Methods:
- Microfluidic-assisted fabrication of annealable GelMA beads.
- Temperature-mediated physical crosslinking for initial stabilization.
- Light-induced chemical annealing to form robust 3D bead-based scaffolds (B-GelMA).
- Incorporation of methacryloyl and arginylglycylaspartic acid (RGD) peptide motifs.
Main Results:
- Fabrication of bead-based GelMA (B-GelMA) scaffolds with high mechanical resilience at high polymer concentrations (∼20 wt%).
- B-GelMA scaffolds exhibit orthogonal void fraction and stiffness, enabling rapid 3D cell seeding.
- The scaffolds promote cell adhesion and proliferation without additional functionalization.
- Demonstrated a universal method to create beaded hydrogels (B-hydrogels) with decoupled porosity and stiffness.
Conclusions:
- Beaded GelMA (B-GelMA) scaffolds provide a tunable and resilient 3D microenvironment for biomedical applications.
- This technology enables the creation of advanced hydrogel platforms with independent control over porosity and stiffness.
- The B-GelMA system offers a versatile solution for tissue engineering, bioprinting, and organoid development.
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