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Method of Bottom-Up Directed Assembly of Cell-Laden Microgels

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Abstract

The paper describes a protocol to fabricate cell-laden microgel assemblies with pre-defined micro-architecture and complexity by a bottom-up approach, which can be used for tissue engineering applications. The assembly process was driven by the hydrophobic effect in the water/oil interface. By agitating hydrophilic microgels in hydrophobic medium, the shape-controlled microgel units assemble in an organized manner to locally minimize the interaction free energy (the surface area exposed to the oil). The assembly process was shown to be controlled by several parameters, such as external energy input, surface tension, and microgel dimensions. This assembly approach was used to build multi-component cell-laden constructs by assembling microgel building blocks and performing a secondary cross-linking reaction. This bottom-up approach for the directed assembly of cell-laden microgels offers a scalable method to fabricate 3D tissue constructs with biomimetic structure.

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Abbreviations

3D:

3-Dimensional

DPBS:

Dulbecco’s phosphate buffered saline

MW:

Molecular weight

PEG:

Polyethylene glycol

UV:

Ultraviolet

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Acknowledgments

We thank Daniel Paik for his discussion on the introduction part. This research has been funded by the NIH, CIMIT, the Coulter Foundation, and the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology. Yanan Du was funded by the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, Engineering Research and Development Center (USACERL/ERDC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Center for Biomedical Engineering, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Yanan Du, Edward Lo, Mahesh K. Vidula, Masoud Khabiry & Ali Khademhosseini

  2. Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 65 Landsdowne Street, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Yanan Du, Edward Lo, Mahesh K. Vidula, Masoud Khabiry & Ali Khademhosseini

Authors
  1. Yanan Du
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  2. Edward Lo
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  3. Mahesh K. Vidula
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  4. Masoud Khabiry
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  5. Ali Khademhosseini
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ali Khademhosseini.

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Du, Y., Lo, E., Vidula, M.K. et al. Method of Bottom-Up Directed Assembly of Cell-Laden Microgels. Cel. Mol. Bioeng. 1, 157–162 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12195-008-0020-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12195-008-0020-z

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