Name: construction of modular hydrogel sheets for micropatterned macro-scaled 3d cellular architecture
Uploaded: 2016-01-11T10:30:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Construction of Modular Hydrogel Sheets for Micropatterned Macro-scaled 3D Cellular Architecture at JoVE.com

This research was supported by a National Leading Research Laboratory Program (Grant NRF-2013R1A2A1A05006378) through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning. The authors also acknowledge a KAIST Systems Healthcare Program.

&#160; &#160;1. Preparation of the Micropatterned Molds and Hydrogels
<ol>
	<li>Produce the desired micro-scale patterns using SU-8 photoresist on the surface of a silicon wafer via a standard two-step photolithography technique15,17 for casting PDMS molds. The example shown uses a liver lobule-like mesh pattern (Figure 1).</li>
	<li>Weigh out PDMS and a curing agent solution with a ratio of 1:5 (i.e., 12.5 g of PDMS and 2.5 g of curing agent).</li>
	<li>Mix the 15 g of the solution...

<ol>
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This protocol provides a simple method of fabricating modular hydrogel sheets, and assembling them to form 3D cellular scaffolds.
To construct clear-cut patterned alginate structures in a short time, we should identify a cross-linking process that can create sufficiently rigid structures to maintain the complex micropatterns from the mold, as well as maintain cell viability and metabolism. We have developed a cross-linking process, including a sol&#8211;gel transition, to spray a cross-linking...

Hydrogels are particularly promising biomaterials, and are expected to be important in basic biology, pharmacological assays and medicine.1 Biofabrication of hydrogel-based cellular constructs has been suggested to reduce the use of animal experiments,2,3 replace transplantable tissues,4 and improve cell-based assays.5,6 Water-containing (hydro-) viscoelastic materials (gels) allow a large number of cells to be encapsulated and maintained in a scaffold structure to control the 3D cellular microenvironment. In combination with the guidance of microfluidic or micropatterning technologies, the geometry of the hydrogel constructs can be precisely controlled at the cellular scale. To date, a variety of shapes of hydrogels, including particles,7-9 fibers,10-12 and sheets,13-15 have been used as building units in bottom-up approaches to the fabrication of macro-scale multi-cellular architectures.
Both hydrogel-based particles and fibers have been readily and rapidly fabricated for applications as micro-scale cellular environments, with fluidic controls using microfluidic devices. However, as the basic units of engineered tissues, it would be complicated to rearrange them and to enlarge their volume as macro-scale constructs.16 It is more difficult to achieve macro-scaled constructs than to produce micron-sized basic modules. Sheet-like units of hydrogel-based constructs can be used to increase the volume of scaffolds via a simple assembly process. Consequentially, stacked layers of hydrogel sheets provide not only a volumetric increase but also a geometric extension in a 3D space.
We have previously reported a method of fabricating micropatterned hydrogel sheets,13-15 together with their assembly into multi-layered cellular architectures. The technique enables complex micropatterning&#160;and modular design of cellular constructs via a stacking process of multi-layered structures. Through the fabrication of stacked modular hydrogel sheets, which are micropatterned, a 3D cell culture system with a controlled macro-scale cellular microenvironment can be realized. This video protocol describes a simple yet powerful fabrication method that can be used to construct modular hydrogel sheets, based on the human liver carcinoma cell line (HepG2). We demonstrate herein simple manipulation of these patterned modular hydrogel sheets, and their assembly into a multi-layered structure.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="958">
	<tbody>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:288px;">Sylgard 184 Silicone Elastomer Kit</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Dow Corning Corporation</td>
			<td style="width:163px;">000000000001064291</td>
			<td style="width:397px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="23">
			<td height="23" style="height:23px;width:288px;">Pluronic F-127</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:163px;">P2443</td>
			<td>Powdered nonionic surfactant&#160;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:288px;">Alginic acid sodium salt, low viscosity</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Alfa Aesar</td>
			<td style="width:163px;">B25266</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:288px;">Calcium chloride dihydrate</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:163px;">C7902</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:288px;">Ultrasonic humidifier</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">MediHeim</td>
			<td style="width:163px;">MH-2800</td>
			<td>Modified equipment, Maximum sprayed rate: 250 mL/h</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="23">
			<td height="23" style="height:23px;width:288px;">Nylon net filter hydrofilic, 180 &#956;m</td>
			<td style="width:111px;">EMD Millipore</td>
			<td style="width:163px;">NY8H04700</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:288px;">Polycarbonate mold</td>
			<td style="width:111px;"></td>
			<td style="width:163px;"></td>
			<td>Customized mold for fabrication of a PDMS frame pattern</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

construction of modular hydrogel sheets for micropatterned macro-scaled 3d cellular architecture

Hydrogels can be patterned at the micro-scale using microfluidic or micropatterning technologies to provide an in vivo-like three-dimensional (3D) tissue geometry. The resulting 3D hydrogel-based cellular constructs have been introduced as an alternative to animal experiments for advanced biological studies, pharmacological assays and organ transplant applications. Although hydrogel-based particles and fibers can be easily fabricated, it is difficult to manipulate them for tissue reconstruction. In this video, we describe a fabrication method for micropatterned alginate hydrogel sheets, together with their assembly to form a macro-scale 3D cell culture system with a controlled cellular microenvironment. Using a mist form of the calcium gelling agent, thin hydrogel sheets are easily generated with a thickness in the range of 100 - 200 &#181;m, and with precise micropatterns. Cells can then be cultured with the geometric guidance of the hydrogel sheets in freestanding conditions. Furthermore, the hydrogel sheets can be readily manipulated using a micropipette with an end-cut tip, and can be assembled into multi-layered structures by stacking them using a patterned polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) frame. These modular hydrogel sheets, which can be fabricated using a facile process, have potential applications of in vitro drug assays and biological studies, including functional studies of micro- and macrostructure and tissue reconstruction.

We have described the fabrication and manipulation of freestanding cellular hydrogel sheets. As shown in Figure 1, we fabricated micropatterned PDMS molds, and cell-containing hydrogel was loaded onto the hydrophilic surface of these molds and cross-linked using a humidifier to generate an aerosolized mist of gelling agent. Following release from the molds, HepG2 cells were cultured in freestanding hydrogel sheets with various patterns (Figure 2). Thus, t...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Construction of Modular Hydrogel Sheets for Micropatterned Macro-scaled 3D Cellular Architecture at JoVE.com

Construction of Modular Hydrogel Sheets for Micropatterned Macro-scaled 3D Cellular Architecture

We describe the fabrication of micropatterned hydrogel sheets using a simple process, which can be assembled and manipulated in a freestanding form. Using these modular hydrogel sheets, a simple macro-scaled 3D cell culture system can be generated with a controlled cellular microenvironment.

Hydrogels can be patterned at the micro-scale using microfluidic or micropatterning technologies to provide an in vivo-like three-dimensional (3D) tissue ...

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