biostudies-literatureUnknown4Leferink AMthe Dutch Province of LimburgKyeron B.V.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 Materials today. Bio100025https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC7061620biostudies-literatureShape-defined solid micro-objects from poly(d,l-lactic acid) as cell-supportive counterparts in bottom-up tissue engineering.PMC7061620Bossink EGBMMoroni Lvan den Berg Avan Vossen Hde Heus LELeferink AMTibbe MPTruckenmuller RKfalseShape-defined solid micro-objects from poly(d,l-lactic acid) as cell-supportive counterparts in bottom-up tissue engineering.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 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z2019 Sep2025-04-05T16:10:45.295Z2020-05-22T13:03:14ZS-EPMC70616203215915410.1016/j.mtbio.2019.100025