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Clickable Microgel Scaffolds as Platforms for 3D Cell Encapsulation
Author(s) -
Caldwell Alexander S.,
Campbell Gavin T.,
Shekiro Kelly M. T.,
Anseth Kristi S.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced healthcare materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.288
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 2192-2659
pISSN - 2192-2640
DOI - 10.1002/adhm.201700254
Subject(s) - microporous material , nanotechnology , materials science , cell encapsulation , scaffold , regenerative medicine , encapsulation (networking) , tissue engineering , fabrication , polymer , self healing hydrogels , cell , biomedical engineering , chemistry , computer science , polymer chemistry , composite material , medicine , computer network , biochemistry , alternative medicine , pathology
While microporous scaffolds are increasingly used for regenerative medicine and tissue repair applications, the most common techniques to fabricate these scaffolds use templating or top‐down fabrication approaches. Cytocompatible bottom‐up assembly methods afford the opportunity to assemble microporous systems in the presence of cells and create complex polymer‐cell composite systems in situ. Here, microgel building blocks with clickable surface groups are synthesized for the bottom‐up fabrication of porous cell‐laden scaffolds. The facile nature of assembly allows for human mesenchymal stem cells to be incorporated throughout the porous scaffold. Particles are designed with mean diameters of ≈10 and 100 µm, and assembled to create varied microenvironments. The resulting pore sizes and their distribution significantly alter cell morphology and cytoskeletal formation. This microgel‐based system provides numerous tunable properties that can be used to control multiple aspects of cellular growth and development, as well as providing the ability to recapitulate various biological interfaces.