Multiphasic microgel-in-gel materials to recapitulate cellular mesoenvironments in vitro
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
Multiphasic in vitro models with cross-scale heterogeneity in matrix properties and/or cellular composition can reflect the structural and compositional complexity of living tissues more faithfully, thereby creating new options for pathobiology and drug development studies. Herein, a new class of tunable microgel-in-gel materials is reported that build on a versatile platform of multifunctional poly(ethylene glycol)-heparin gel types and integrates monodisperse, cell-laden microgels within cell-laden bulk hydrogel matrices. A novel microfluidic approach was developed to enable the high-throughput fabrication of microgels of in situ adjustable diameters, stiffness, degradability and biomolecular functionalization. By choosing structure and composition of the microgel and the bulk gel compartments independently, our microgel-in-gel arrangements provide cross-scale control over tissue-mimetic features and pave the way for culture systems with designed mesoenvironmental characteristics. The potentialities of the introduced approach are exemplarily shown by creating a reductionistic in vitro model of vascularized prostate cancer tissue.
Details
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 101-108 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Biomaterials science |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 1 |
Publication status | Published - Jan 2020 |
Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
PubMed | 31674601 |
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ORCID | /0000-0003-0189-3448/work/161890296 |