Journal
BIOMATERIALS
Volume 31, Issue 19, Pages 5051-5062Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2010.03.024
Keywords
Tissue engineering; Hydrogels; Osteoblast; Combinatorial methods; Matrix stiffness; Graded tissues
Funding
- National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences
- NIST, NIH/NIBIB [R21 EB006497-01]
- Intramural Program of the NIH/NIDCR (National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research)
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Cells are known to sense and respond to the physical properties of their environment and those of tissue scaffolds. Optimizing these cell material interactions is critical in tissue engineering. In this work, a simple and inexpensive combinatorial platform was developed to rapidly screen three-dimensional (3D) tissue scaffolds and was applied to screen the effect of scaffold properties for tissue engineering of bone. Differentiation of osteoblasts was examined in poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogel gradients spanning a 30-fold range in compressive modulus (approximate to 10 kPa to approximate to 300 kPa). Results demonstrate that material properties (gel stiffness) of scaffolds can be leveraged to induce cell differentiation in 3D culture as an alternative to biochemical cues such as soluble supplements, immobilized biomolecules and vectors, which are often expensive, labile and potentially carcinogenic. Gel moduli of approximate to 225 kPa and higher enhanced osteogenesis. Furthermore, it is proposed that material-induced cell differentiation can be modulated to engineer seamless tissue interfaces between mineralized bone tissue and softer tissues such as ligaments and tendons. This work presents a combinatorial method to screen biological response to 3D hydrogel scaffolds that more closely mimics the 3D environment experienced by cells in vivo. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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