Journal
MACROMOLECULAR BIOSCIENCE
Volume 17, Issue 9, Pages -Publisher
WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH
DOI: 10.1002/mabi.201700162
Keywords
3D cell culture; cell viability; diffusion; hydrogel; mechanics
Funding
- UNIST (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology) [1.170008.01, 1.170050.01]
- Basic Science Research Program
- National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) - Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning [2015R1C1A1A02037666, 2017M3A9C6033875]
- Ministry of Science & ICT (MSIT), Republic of Korea [2017BRAND] Funding Source: Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information (KISTI), National Science & Technology Information Service (NTIS)
- National Research Foundation of Korea [2015R1C1A1A02037666, 2017M3A9C6033875] Funding Source: Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information (KISTI), National Science & Technology Information Service (NTIS)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Hydrogels possess several physical and chemical properties suitable for engineering cellular environments for biomedical applications. Despite recent advances in hydrogel systems for cell culture, it is still a significant challenge to independently control the mechanical and diffusional properties of hydrogels, both of which are well known to influence various cell behaviors when using hydrogels as 3D cell culture systems. Controlling the crosslinking density of a hydrogel system to tune the mechanical properties inevitably affects their diffusional properties, as the crosslinking density and diffusion are often inversely correlated. In this study, a polymeric crosslinker is demonstrated that allows for the adjustment of the degree of substitution of reactive functional groups. By using this polymeric crosslinker, the rigidity of the resulting hydrogel is controlled in a wide range without changing the polymer concentration. Furthermore, their diffusional properties, as characterized by their swelling ratios, pore diameters, and drug release rates, are not significantly affected by the changes in the degree of substitution. 3D cell studies using this hydrogel system successfully demonstrate the varying effects of mechanical properties on different cell types, whereas those in a conventional hydrogel system are more significantly influenced by changes in diffusional properties.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available