Towards spatially-organized organs-on-chip: Photopatterning cell-laden thiol-ene and methacryloyl hydrogels in a microfluidic device.

ABSTRACT: Micropatterning techniques for 3D cell cultures enable the recreation of tissue-level structures, but the combination of patterned hydrogels with organs-on-chip to generate organized 3D cultures under microfluidic perfusion remains challenging. To address this technological gap, we developed a user-friendly in-situ micropatterning protocol that integrates photolithography of crosslinkable, cell-laden hydrogels with a simple microfluidic housing, and tested the impact of crosslinking chemistry on stability and spatial resolution. Working with gelatin functionalized with photo-crosslinkable moieties, we found that inclusion of cells at high densities (≥ 10⁷/mL) did not impede thiol-norbornene gelation, but decreased the storage moduli of methacryloyl hydrogels. Hydrogel compositio

SUBMITTER: Ortiz-Cardenas JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9078144 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature