Fabrication of three-dimensional cell constructs using temperature-responsive hydrogel

Tissue Eng Part A. 2010 Aug;16(8):2497-504. doi: 10.1089/ten.TEA.2009.0523.

Abstract

A morphologically controlled three-dimensional (3D) cell construct composed of only cells and having no scaffold material might be a valuable biologic material for tissue engineering applications, as the scaffold materials can cause delay of tissue regeneration in some conditions. To obtain such a 3D cell construct, a 3D thermoresponsive hydrogel (poly-N-isopropylacrylamide) was prepared as a mold material that changes its volume depending on the temperature. Three-dimensional osteoblast cell constructs with a variety of morphologies as well as a monolayered cell sheet were obtained by decreasing the surrounding temperature of the hydrogel designed with a predefined shape and formed by curing in a polymer mold manufactured via 3D printing. The cell sheet or 3D cell constructs detachment resulted from a simple change in the gel volume, not by the surface chemistry of the gel, because the surface hydrophilicity of the gel was maintained over a wide temperature range. These 2D/3D cell constructs have numbers of exciting applications such as cell carriers for tissue regeneration or as model tissues for the biological study.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acrylic Resins / chemistry*
  • Animals
  • Biocompatible Materials / chemistry*
  • Cell Culture Techniques / methods*
  • Cell Line
  • Hydrogels / chemistry*
  • Materials Testing
  • Mice
  • Osteoblasts / cytology*
  • Osteoblasts / physiology*
  • Surface Properties
  • Temperature
  • Tissue Engineering / methods*

Substances

  • Acrylic Resins
  • Biocompatible Materials
  • Hydrogels
  • poly-N-isopropylacrylamide