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One‐Step Rapid Fabrication of Cell‐Only Living Fibers
Author(s) -
Sousa Ana Rita,
MartinsCruz Cláudia,
Oliveira Mariana B.,
Mano João F.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201906305
Subject(s) - biomaterial , materials science , scaffold , nanotechnology , tissue engineering , mesenchymal stem cell , fiber , template , regenerative medicine , fabrication , cell , biomedical engineering , stem cell , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , composite material , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , genetics
Cellular aggregates are used as relevant regenerative building blocks, tissue models, and cell delivery platforms. Biomaterial‐free structures are often assembled either as 2D cell sheets or spherical microaggregates, both incompatible with free‐form deposition, and dependent on challenging processes for macroscale 3D upscaling. The continuous and elongated nature of fiber‐shaped materials enables their deposition in unrestricted multiple directions. Cellular fiber fabrication has often required exogenously provided support proteins and/or the use of biomaterial‐based sacrificial templates. Here, the rapid (<24 h) assembly of fiberoids is reported: living centimeter‐long scaffold‐free fibers of cells produced in the absence of exogenous materials or supplements. Adipose‐derived mesenchymal stem cell fiberoids can be easily modulated into complex multidimensional geometries and show tissue‐invasive properties while keeping the secretion of trophic factors. Proangiogenic properties studied on a chick chorioallantoic membrane in an ovo model are observed for heterotypic fiberoids containing endothelial cells. These micro‐to‐macrotissues may find application as morphogenic therapeutic and tissue‐mimetic building blocks, with the ability to integrate 3D and 4D full biological materials.