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Hydrogels Containing Gradients in Vascular Density Reveal Dose‐Dependent Role of Angiocrine Cues on Stem Cell Behavior
Author(s) -
Ngo Mai T.,
Barnhouse Victoria R.,
Gilchrist Aidan E.,
Mahadik Bhushan P.,
Hunter Christine J.,
Hensold Joy N.,
Petrikas Nathan,
Harley Brendan A. C.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.202101541
Subject(s) - stem cell , microbiology and biotechnology , cell fate determination , biology , haematopoiesis , hematopoietic stem cell , cell , genetics , transcription factor , gene
Biomaterials that replicate patterns of microenvironmental signals from the stem cell niche offer the potential to refine platforms to regulate stem cell behavior. While significant emphasis has been placed on understanding the effects of biophysical and biochemical cues on stem cell fate, vascular‐derived or angiocrine cues offer an important alternative signaling axis for biomaterial‐based stem cell platforms. Elucidating dose‐dependent relationships between angiocrine cues and stem cell fate are largely intractable in animal models and 2D cell cultures. In this study, microfluidic mixing devices are leveraged to generate 3D hydrogels containing lateral gradients in vascular density alongside murine hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Regional differences in vascular density can be generated via embossed gradients in cell, matrix, or growth factor density. HSCs co‐cultured alongside vascular gradients reveal spatial patterns of HSC phenotype in response to angiocrine signals. Notably, decreased Akt signaling in high vessel density regions led to increased expansion of lineage‐positive hematopoietic cells. This approach offers a combinatorial tool to rapidly screen a continuum of microenvironments with varying vascular, biophysical, and biochemical cues to reveal the influence of local angiocrine signals on HSC fate.