One step fabrication of hydrogel microcapsules with hollow core for assembly and cultivation of hepatocyte spheroids. (1st March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Siltanen, Christian; Diakatou, Michalitsa; Lowen, Jeremy; Haque, Amranul; Rahimian, Ali; Stybayeva, Gulnaz; Revzin, Alexander
• Is Part Of: Acta biomaterialia. Volume 50(2017)
• Page Start: 428
• Page End: 436
• Publication Date: 2017-03-01
• Subjects: Droplet generation -- Microfluidic fabrication -- Hydrogel microcapsules -- Hepatocytes; Biomedical materials -- Periodicals; 610.28
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2017.01.010
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1742-7061

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Abstract: 3D hepatic microtissues can serve as valuable liver analogues for cell-based therapies and for hepatotoxicity screening during preclinical drug development. However, hepatocytes rapidly dedifferentiate in vitro, and typically require 3D culture systems or co-cultures for phenotype rescue. In this work we present a novel microencapsulation strategy, utilizing coaxial flow-focusing droplet microfluidics to fabricate microcapsules with liquid core and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) gel shell. When entrapped inside these capsules, primary hepatocytes rapidly formed cell-cell contacts and assembled into compact spheroids. High levels of hepatic function were maintained inside the capsules for over ten days. The microencapsulation approach described here is compatible with difficult-to-culture primary epithelial cells, allows for tuning gel mechanical properties and diffusivity, and may be used in the future for high density suspension cell cultures. Statement of Significance: Our paper combines an interesting new way for making capsules with cultivation of difficult-to-maintain primary epithelial cells (hepatocytes). The microcapsules described here will enable high density suspension culture of hepatocytes or other cells and may be used as building blocks for engineering tissues.