It is worth investigating heterotypic cell–cell interactions by mimicking their in vivo environment. In the present study, the mechanism of functional enhancement was investigated in a hepatocyte–fibroblast coculture with respect to the contributions of soluble factors. The enhanced hepatic functions through heterotypic interactions are effective by increasing fibroblast proliferation separately cocultured in 3D silica fabrics. The important roles of active soluble factors in heterotypic cell communications were suggested by this study using 3D proliferated tissues with satisfactory physiological morphologies in silica fabrics.
Microfabrication and micropatterning techniques in tissue engineering offer great potential for creating and controlling cellular microenvironments including cell–matrix interactions, soluble stimuli and cell–cell interactions. Here, we present a novel approach to generate layered patterning of hepatocyte spheroids on micropatterned non-parenchymal feeder cells using microfabricated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels. Micropatterned PEG-hydrogel-treated substrates with two-dimensional arrays of gelatin circular domains (ϕ = 100 μm) were prepared by photolithographic method. Only on the critical structure of PEG hydrogel with perfect protein rejection, hepatocytes were co-cultured with non-parenchymal cells to be led to enhanced hepatocyte functions. Then, we investigated the mechanism of the functional enhancement in co-culture with respect to the contributions of soluble factors and direct cell–cell interactions. In particular, to elucidate the influence of soluble factors on hepatocyte function, hepatocyte spheroids underlaid with fibroblasts (NIH/3T3 mouse fibroblasts) or endothelial cells (BAECs: bovine aortic endothelial cells) were compared with physically separated co-culture of hepatocyte monospheroids with NIH3T3 or BAEC using trans-well culture systems. Our results suggested that direct heterotypic cell-to-cell contact and soluble factors, both of these between hepatocytes and fibroblasts, significantly enhanced hepatocyte functions. In contrast, direct heterotypic cell-to-cell contact between hepatocytes and endothelial cells only contributed to enhance hepatocyte functions. This patterning technique can be a useful experimental tool for applications in basic science, drug screening and tissue engineering, as well as in the design of artificial liver devices.
A two-dimensional microarray of 10 000 (100 × 100) chondrocyte spheroids was constructed with a 100 µm spacing on a micropatterned gold electrode that was coated with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels. The PEGylated surface as a cytophobic region was regulated by controlling the gel structure through photolithography. In this way, a PEG hydrogel was modulated enough to inhibit outgrowth of chondrocytes from a cell adhering region in the horizontal direction, which is critical for inducing formation of three-dimensional chondrocyte aggregations (spheroids) within 24 h. We further report noninvasive monitoring of the cellular functional change at the cell membrane using a chondrocyte-based field effect transistor. This measurement is based on detection of extracellular potential change induced as a result of the interaction between extracellular matrix protein secreted from spheroid and substrate at the cell membrane. The interface potential change at the cell membrane/gate interface can be monitored during the differentiation of spheroids without any labeling materials. Our measurements of the time evolution of the interface potential provide important information for understanding the uptake kinetics for cellular differentiation.
The low electric field application to HeLa cells adhered to electrodes was studied to induce cell death effectively. The low-voltage pulse applied to the electrode was generated with charge and discharge by an originally made circuit. The unique characteristics in this experiment is the charge flow between electrodes, and it causes direct attack of the ions to the cell membrane, leading to complete cell elimination. Viability of cells appreciably decreased with increase in discharge time at a quite low 3 V cm−1 that has not been reported to date.
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