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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 22, 2025

Gradient Strain Chip for Stimulating Cellular Behaviors in Cell-laden Hydrogel
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Printing Structurally Anisotropic Biocompatible Fibrillar Hydrogel for Guided Cell Alignment.

Zhengkun Chen1, Nancy Khuu1, Fei Xu1

  • 1Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3H6, Canada.

Gels (Basel, Switzerland)
|November 10, 2022
PubMed
Summary

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Researchers created aligned fibrous hydrogels using cellulose nanofibers and gelatin. This controlled structural anisotropy influences cell orientation, aiding tissue engineering and biological studies.

Area of Science:

  • Biomaterials Science
  • Tissue Engineering
  • Cell Biology

Background:

  • Fibrous biological tissues often display structural anisotropy due to aligned extracellular matrix fibers.
  • Understanding anisotropy's effects on cell behavior (proliferation, orientation, mobility) requires controlled synthetic scaffolds.
  • Man-made hydrogel scaffolds are crucial for recapitulating native tissue structures.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a chemically crosslinked fibrous hydrogel with tunable structural anisotropy.
  • To investigate methods for inducing and controlling fiber alignment in hydrogel scaffolds.
  • To assess the impact of hydrogel anisotropy on human dermal fibroblast behavior.

Main Methods:

  • Synthesized a hydrogel precursor via reaction between aldehyde-modified cellulose nanofibers and gelatin.
Keywords:
3D printingalignmentanisotropycellulose nanofiberhydrogels

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  • Induced structural anisotropy by extruding the hydrogel precursor through printheads, utilizing shear forces for fiber alignment.
  • Controlled the degree of anisotropy through ink composition and extrusion flow rate.
  • Cultured human dermal fibroblasts on and within the anisotropic hydrogels.

    • Main Results:

    • Successfully created chemically crosslinked fibrous hydrogels with aligned cellulose nanofibers.
    • Demonstrated that extrusion through a nozzle induces shear-aligned cellulose nanofibers, which are retained post-crosslinking.
    • Showed that hydrogel structural anisotropy significantly influenced the orientation of seeded and encapsulated human dermal fibroblasts.
    • Established that ink composition and extrusion flow rate are key parameters for controlling anisotropy.

    Conclusions:

    • A straightforward method for fabricating fibrillar hydrogel scaffolds with controlled structural anisotropy was developed.
    • The anisotropic hydrogels effectively guided cell orientation, demonstrating their potential for mimicking native tissue environments.
    • This approach provides a valuable tool for investigating the biological consequences of tissue anisotropy in vitro.