Shape-defined solid micro-objects from poly(d,l-lactic acid) as cell-supportive counterparts in bottom-up tissue engineering.

ABSTRACT: In bottom-up tissue engineering, small modular units of cells and biomaterials are assembled toward ​larger and more complex ones. In conjunction with a new implementation of this approach, a novel method to fabricate microscale objects from biopolymers by thermal imprinting on water-soluble sacrificial layers is presented. By this means, geometrically well-defined objects could be obtained without involving toxic agents in the form of photoinitiators. The micro-objects were used as cell-adhesive substrates and cell spacers in engineered tissues created by cell-guided assembly of the objects. Such constructs can be applied both for in vitro studies and clinical treatments. Clinically relevantly sized aggregates comprised of cells and micro-objects retained their viability up to 2 weeks of

SUBMITTER: Leferink AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7061620 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature