Monitoring Oxygen Levels within Large, Tissue-Engineered Constructs Using Porphyin-Hydrogel Microparticles.

ABSTRACT: A major barrier to the creation of engineered organs is the limited diffusion of oxygen through biological tissues. Advances in biofabrication bring us increasingly closer to complex vascular networks capable of supplying oxygen to large cellularized scaffolds. However, technologies for monitoring oxygen levels in engineered tissues do not accommodate imaging depths of more than a few dozen micrometers. Here, we report the creation of fluorescent porphyrin-hydrogel microparticles that can be used at depths of 2 mm into artificial tissues. By combining an oxygen-responsive porphyrin dye with a reference dye, the microparticles generate a ratiometric signal that is photostable, unaffected by attenuation from biological material, and responsive to physiological change in oxygen concentration.

SUBMITTER: Wilson RL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7949663 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature