Utagawa Yoshinobu, Ino Kosuke, Kumagai Tatsuki, Hiramoto Kaoru, Takinoue Masahiro, Nashimoto Yuji, Shiku Hitoshi
Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan.
Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan.
Micromachines (Basel). 2022 Mar 8;13(3):420. doi: 10.3390/mi13030420.
Three-dimensional organs and tissues can be constructed using hydrogels as support matrices for cells. For the assembly of these gels, chemical and physical reactions that induce gluing should be induced locally in target areas without causing cell damage. Herein, we present a novel electrochemical strategy for gluing hydrogel fibers. In this strategy, a microelectrode electrochemically generated HClO or Ca, and these chemicals were used to crosslink chitosan-alginate fibers fabricated using interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation. Further, human umbilical vein endothelial cells were incorporated into the fibers, and two such fibers were glued together to construct "+"-shaped hydrogels. After gluing, the hydrogels were embedded in Matrigel and cultured for several days. The cells spread and proliferated along the fibers, indicating that the electrochemical glue was not toxic toward the cells. This is the first report on the use of electrochemical glue for the assembly of hydrogel pieces containing cells. Based on our results, the electrochemical gluing method has promising applications in tissue engineering and the development of organs on a chip.
可以使用水凝胶作为细胞的支撑基质来构建三维器官和组织。对于这些凝胶的组装，应在目标区域局部诱导引起黏合的化学和物理反应，同时不造成细胞损伤。在此，我们提出一种用于黏合水凝胶纤维的新型电化学策略。在该策略中，微电极通过电化学方法生成HClO或Ca，并且这些化学物质用于交联通过界面聚电解质络合制备的壳聚糖-藻酸盐纤维。此外，将人脐静脉内皮细胞掺入纤维中，然后将两根这样的纤维黏合在一起以构建“+”形水凝胶。黏合后，将水凝胶包埋在基质胶中并培养数天。细胞沿着纤维铺展并增殖，这表明电化学胶水对细胞无毒。这是关于使用电化学胶水组装含细胞水凝胶片的首次报道。基于我们的结果，电化学黏合方法在组织工程和芯片上器官的开发中具有广阔的应用前景。
