Electromicrofluidic Lithography for Biomaterials Patterning and Three Dimensional Cell Co-culture
Date Issued
2015
Date
2015
Author(s)
Lai, Yi-Han
Abstract
2D cell culturing has been well developed, which provides an in vitro environment for specific cells culture. Alternatively, 3D cell culture techniques, including lectricphoresis manipulation, template molding, surface hydrophobicity treatment, textile technology and bio-printing, provide an in-vivo like realistic environment. However, co-cultivating multiple cells in 3D scaffolds with complex structures is still challenging. This research proposed an electro-microfluidic lithography technique to establish 3D scaffolds. By using electrowetting on a dielectric (EWOD), droplets were driven and 3D structures were deformed by designed electrode patterns with precisely-controlled amount of bio-compatible hydrogels materials containing suspended cells/fluorescent particles. Furthermore, manipulating multiple pre-polymer hydrogel solutions and forming 3D scaffolds were investigated. Different hydrogel solutions, PEGDA (poly(ethylene glycol)diacrylate) and GelMA (gelatin methacrylated) were tested. We compared the theory with experimental results in different ambients (air, silicone oil 1 cst), with varied 3D structure width (100-400 m), height (40-100 m) and voltage (40-120 Vpp). With appropriate operating parameters (60-80 Vpp, 1 kHz), hydrogel microstructures containing cells/fluorescent particles were formed after UV curing. Bio-compatible hydrogel (GelMA 5%, photo initiator 0.5%) solutions containing cells (fibroblast NIH-3T3 and hepatocyte HepG2) were deformed and cured on a chip. Subsequently, cells were incubated for 7-9 days. Cells phenotyping functions (migrating, proliferating and spreading) and fluorescent bio-marking on actin and nucleus of cells were observed. Compared with convectional 2D cell culture, cells grew and aligned with the boundary of the 3D hydrogel structure. We proposed an electro-microfluidic lithography technique to simultaneously manipulate multiple pre-polymer solutions for constructing cell laden hydrogels and 3D cell co-culture.
Subjects
3D scaffolds
electrowetting
electro-microfluidic lithography
hydrogel
co-culturing
Type
thesis
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
Loading...
Name
ntu-104-R02522307-1.pdf
Size
23.54 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):d4273f49dc8bdc4447892b10fc4f2382