A flexible microfluidic strategy to generate grooved microfibers for guiding cell alignment

Abstract

Hydrogel microfibers are widely applied in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine due to the tunable morphologies, componential anisotropy, and good biocompatibility. Specially, grooved microfibers with unique advantages can facilitate cell...

Microfluidic Tissue Engineering and Bio‐Actuation

“…[ 281 ] Such fibers encapsulated differentiated cells or somatic stem cells, were enriched with ECM proteins, and could be assembled into constructs that replicated the intrinsic morphologies and functions of living tissues, such as, muscle fibers, blood vessels, and nerve networks. In Table 3 , some examples of cell‐laden microfibers generated by the microfluidic laminar flow method are listed, which include microfibers derived from alginate, [ 366–375 ] modified or enriched alginate, [ 359,376–381 ] and other biomaterials. [ 224,281,322,361,382 ]…”

“…Some examples of microfluidically generated microfibers are represented in Figure that depicts: Microfibers composed of a single biomaterial whose different diameters affect the alignment of adherent cells (Figure 9A); [ 359 ] microfibers whose heterogeneous biomaterial composition increases cell viability (Figure 9B); [ 361 ] microfibers with grooved microstructures that facilitate cell alignment (Figure 9C); [ 378 ] microfibers encapsulating different cell populations (Figure 9D); [ 377 ] microfibers with tailorable internal architectures and hollow cavities, and assemblable into complex 3D geometries (Figure 9E), demonstrating that through multiple‐laminar‐flow microfluidics, it is possible to prepare multicomponent 3D alginate microfibers in which the morphology of the encapsulated cells can be precisely controlled. [ 342,379 ] Zhao et al.…”

“…Reproduced with permission. [ 378 ] Copyright 2021, Royal Society of Chemistry. D) Microfluidically‐derived composite microfibers, containing fluorescent microballoons, are manually assembled into woven structures: The braided strand, helical tube, and knot (scale bars: 200 µm).…”

“…For instance, grooved alginate microfibers were formed within a microfluidic device according to the design of a multifluid laminar flow and variable concentrations of the injected sodium alginate solutions. [ 378 ] The width and the morphology of the fibers could be controlled by adjusting the flow rates of constituent solutions, namely alginate and CaCl 2 .…”

“…[281] Such fibers encapsulated differentiated cells or somatic stem cells, were enriched with ECM proteins, and could be assembled into constructs that replicated the intrinsic morphologies and functions of living tissues, such as, muscle fibers, blood vessels, and nerve networks. In Table 3, some examples of cell-laden microfibers generated by the microfluidic laminar flow method are listed, which include microfibers derived from alginate, [366][367][368][369][370][371][372][373][374][375] modified or enriched alginate, [359,[376][377][378][379][380][381] and other biomaterials. [224,281,322,361,382] Some examples of microfluidically generated microfibers are represented in Figure 9 that depicts: Microfibers composed of a single biomaterial whose different diameters affect the alignment of adherent cells (Figure 9A); [359] microfibers whose heterogeneous biomaterial composition increases cell viability (Figure 9B); [361] microfibers with grooved microstructures that facilitate cell alignment (Figure 9C); [378] microfibers encapsulating different cell populations (Figure 9D); [377] microfibers with tailorable internal architectures and hollow cavities, and assemblable into complex 3D geometries (Figure 9E), demonstrating that through multiple-laminar-flow microfluidics, it is possible to prepare multicomponent 3D alginate microfibers in which the morphology of the encapsulated cells can be precisely controlled.…”