Bae Jun Hyuk, Lee Jong Min, Chung Bong Geun
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea.
Biomed Mater. 2016 Feb 29;11(1):015019. doi: 10.1088/1748-6041/11/1/015019.
We developed a photo-crosslinkable hydrogel-encapsulated three-dimensional (3D) microwell array for studying embryonic stem (ES) cell-derived neuronal differentiation. ES cells were cultured for 5 d in microwells and were subsequently encapsulated by photo-crosslinkable gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogels for an additional 7 d. We observed that ES cells cultured in PEG microwells became uniform-sized embryoid bodies (EBs) compared to those in GelMA microwells. Although ES cells were encapsulated by photo-crosslinkable GelMA and PEG hydrogels, they were highly viable. We demonstrated that uniform-sized EBs encapsulated by GelMA hydrogels in PEG microwells are largely differentiated into neuronal cells. It was revealed that neurites at the periphery of EBs in PEG microwells largely extended into the interface between GelMA hydrogels and PEG microwells for generating neuronal networks. Therefore, this photo-crosslinkable GelMA hydrogel-encapsulated PEG microwell array could be a potentially powerful tool for neurodegenerative disease applications.
我们开发了一种用于研究胚胎干细胞（ES细胞）分化为神经元的光交联水凝胶封装三维（3D）微孔阵列。ES细胞在微孔中培养5天，随后用可光交联的甲基丙烯酸明胶（GelMA）和聚乙二醇（PEG）水凝胶封装，再培养7天。我们观察到与在GelMA微孔中培养的ES细胞相比,在PEG微孔中培养的ES细胞形成了大小均匀的拟胚体（EBs）。尽管ES细胞被可光交联的GelMA和PEG水凝胶封装，但它们仍具有很高活性我们证明了在PEG微孔中被GelMA水凝胶封装且大小均匀的EBs在很大程度上分化为神经元细胞。研究发现，PEG微孔中EBs周边的神经突大多延伸至GelMA水凝胶与PEG微孔之间界面，以形成神经网络。因此，这种光交联GelMA水凝胶封装的PEG微孔阵列可能是用于神经退行性疾病的潜在有力工具。
