Photo‐crosslinkable hydrogel‐based 3D microfluidic culture device |
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| Authors: | Youlee Lee Jong Min Lee Pan‐Kee Bae Il Yup Chung Bong Hyun Chung Bong Geun Chung |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Bionano Technology, Hanyang University, Ansan, Korea;2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea;3. BioNano Heath Guard Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Daejeon, Korea;4. Department of Molecular and Life Science, Hanyang University, Ansan, Korea |
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| Abstract: | We developed the photo‐crosslinkable hydrogel‐based 3D microfluidic device to culture neural stem cells (NSCs) and tumors. The photo‐crosslinkable gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) polymer was used as a physical barrier in the microfluidic device and collagen type I gel was employed to culture NSCs in a 3D manner. We demonstrated that the pore size was inversely proportional to concentrations of GelMA hydrogels, showing the pore sizes of 5 and 25 w/v% GelMA hydrogels were 34 and 4 μm, respectively. It also revealed that the morphology of pores in 5 w/v% GelMA hydrogels was elliptical shape, whereas we observed circular‐shaped pores in 25 w/v% GelMA hydrogels. To culture NSCs and tumors in the 3D microfluidic device, we investigated the molecular diffusion properties across GelMA hydrogels, indicating that 25 w/v% GelMA hydrogels inhibited the molecular diffusion for 6 days in the 3D microfluidic device. In contrast, the chemicals were diffused in 5 w/v% GelMA hydrogels. Finally, we cultured NSCs and tumors in the hydrogel‐based 3D microfluidic device, showing that 53–75% NSCs differentiated into neurons, while tumors were cultured in the collagen gels. Therefore, this photo‐crosslinkable hydrogel‐based 3D microfluidic culture device could be a potentially powerful tool for regenerative tissue engineering applications. |
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| Keywords: | Hydrogel Microfluidic device Stem cell |
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