Heterogeneous hydrogels from manipulated prepolymer droplets and crosslinked microgels

Constructing 3D heterogeneous hydrogels from electrically manipulated
prepolymer droplets and crosslinked microgels. PEGDA Microgels Assemble within Heterogeneous Architectures.

Manipulation and crosslinking of liquid microgels. Preparation of microgels (volume 0.1 μL) with configurable encoding colors from reservoirs accommodating PEGDA. Postcrosslinking assembly of microgels. Postcrosslinking assembly and stacking of crosslinked PEGDA microgels (1 mm × 1 mm × 100 μm) in an aqueous environment. Precrosslinking assembly of microgels. Precrosslinking assembly of nine PEGDA droplets with varied dyes to form a heterogeneous architecture (3 mm × 3 mm × 100 μm). Postcrosslinking assembly of microgels with particles. Postcrosslinking assembly and stacking of crosslinked PEGDA microgels, containing random and reorganized fluorescent red particles, in liquid PEGDA prepolymer solution observed with fluorescence and bright-field microscope. Precrosslinking assembly of microgels with particles. Precrosslinking assembly of nine PEGDA droplets with dye and reorganized particles to form a heterogeneous architecture (3 mm × 3 mm × 100 μm). Beating of patterned cardiomyocytes at 24 and 48 hours in culture. Observation of patterned neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes beating on a heterogeneous architecture composed of PEGDA and GelMA at 24 and 48 hours in culture. Manipulation and crosslinking of microgels with cells. Aliquoting of GelMA (5% w/v) prepolymer droplet and reorganizing NIH/3T3 fibroblasts for 3D cell culture.

Published 26 October 2016, Sci. Adv. 2, e1600964 (2016)
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1600964