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A Novel Step-T-Junction Microchannel for the Cell Encapsulation in Monodisperse Alginate-Gelatin Microspheres of Varying Mechanical Properties at High Throughput

Cell encapsulation has been widely employed in cell therapy, characterization, and analysis, as well as many other biomedical applications. While droplet-based microfluidic technology is advantageous in cell microencapsulation because of its modularity, controllability, mild conditions, and easy ope...

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Autores principales: Ling, Si Da, Liu, Zhiqiang, Ma, Wenjun, Chen, Zhuo, Du, Yanan, Xu, Jianhong
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9406195/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36005055
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bios12080659
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author Ling, Si Da
Liu, Zhiqiang
Ma, Wenjun
Chen, Zhuo
Du, Yanan
Xu, Jianhong
author_facet Ling, Si Da
Liu, Zhiqiang
Ma, Wenjun
Chen, Zhuo
Du, Yanan
Xu, Jianhong
author_sort Ling, Si Da
collection PubMed
description Cell encapsulation has been widely employed in cell therapy, characterization, and analysis, as well as many other biomedical applications. While droplet-based microfluidic technology is advantageous in cell microencapsulation because of its modularity, controllability, mild conditions, and easy operation when compared to other state-of-art methods, it faces the dilemma between high throughput and monodispersity of generated cell-laden microdroplets. In addition, the lack of a biocompatible method of de-emulsification transferring cell-laden hydrogel from cytotoxic oil phase into cell culture medium also hurtles the practical application of microfluidic technology. Here, a novel step-T-junction microchannel was employed to encapsulate cells into monodisperse microspheres at the high-throughput jetting regime. An alginate–gelatin co-polymer system was employed to enable the microfluidic-based fabrication of cell-laden microgels with mild cross-linking conditions and great biocompatibility, notably for the process of de-emulsification. The mechanical properties of alginate-gelatin hydrogel, e.g., stiffness, stress–relaxation, and viscoelasticity, are fully adjustable in offering a 3D biomechanical microenvironment that is optimal for the specific encapsulated cell type. Finally, the encapsulation of HepG2 cells into monodisperse alginate–gelatin microgels with the novel microfluidic system and the subsequent cultivation proved the maintenance of the long-term viability, proliferation, and functionalities of encapsulated cells, indicating the promising potential of the as-designed system in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
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spelling pubmed-94061952022-08-26 A Novel Step-T-Junction Microchannel for the Cell Encapsulation in Monodisperse Alginate-Gelatin Microspheres of Varying Mechanical Properties at High Throughput Ling, Si Da Liu, Zhiqiang Ma, Wenjun Chen, Zhuo Du, Yanan Xu, Jianhong Biosensors (Basel) Article Cell encapsulation has been widely employed in cell therapy, characterization, and analysis, as well as many other biomedical applications. While droplet-based microfluidic technology is advantageous in cell microencapsulation because of its modularity, controllability, mild conditions, and easy operation when compared to other state-of-art methods, it faces the dilemma between high throughput and monodispersity of generated cell-laden microdroplets. In addition, the lack of a biocompatible method of de-emulsification transferring cell-laden hydrogel from cytotoxic oil phase into cell culture medium also hurtles the practical application of microfluidic technology. Here, a novel step-T-junction microchannel was employed to encapsulate cells into monodisperse microspheres at the high-throughput jetting regime. An alginate–gelatin co-polymer system was employed to enable the microfluidic-based fabrication of cell-laden microgels with mild cross-linking conditions and great biocompatibility, notably for the process of de-emulsification. The mechanical properties of alginate-gelatin hydrogel, e.g., stiffness, stress–relaxation, and viscoelasticity, are fully adjustable in offering a 3D biomechanical microenvironment that is optimal for the specific encapsulated cell type. Finally, the encapsulation of HepG2 cells into monodisperse alginate–gelatin microgels with the novel microfluidic system and the subsequent cultivation proved the maintenance of the long-term viability, proliferation, and functionalities of encapsulated cells, indicating the promising potential of the as-designed system in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. MDPI 2022-08-19 /pmc/articles/PMC9406195/ /pubmed/36005055 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bios12080659 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Ling, Si Da
Liu, Zhiqiang
Ma, Wenjun
Chen, Zhuo
Du, Yanan
Xu, Jianhong
A Novel Step-T-Junction Microchannel for the Cell Encapsulation in Monodisperse Alginate-Gelatin Microspheres of Varying Mechanical Properties at High Throughput
title A Novel Step-T-Junction Microchannel for the Cell Encapsulation in Monodisperse Alginate-Gelatin Microspheres of Varying Mechanical Properties at High Throughput
title_full A Novel Step-T-Junction Microchannel for the Cell Encapsulation in Monodisperse Alginate-Gelatin Microspheres of Varying Mechanical Properties at High Throughput
title_fullStr A Novel Step-T-Junction Microchannel for the Cell Encapsulation in Monodisperse Alginate-Gelatin Microspheres of Varying Mechanical Properties at High Throughput
title_full_unstemmed A Novel Step-T-Junction Microchannel for the Cell Encapsulation in Monodisperse Alginate-Gelatin Microspheres of Varying Mechanical Properties at High Throughput
title_short A Novel Step-T-Junction Microchannel for the Cell Encapsulation in Monodisperse Alginate-Gelatin Microspheres of Varying Mechanical Properties at High Throughput
title_sort novel step-t-junction microchannel for the cell encapsulation in monodisperse alginate-gelatin microspheres of varying mechanical properties at high throughput
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9406195/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36005055
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bios12080659
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