Alginate gel microwell arrays using electrodeposition for three-dimensional cell culture

Abstract

In this study, we developed a novel method for fabricating microwell arrays constructed from alginate gels, and the alginate gel microwells were used for three-dimensional (3D) cell culture. The alginate gel microwells were fabricated on a patterned ITO electrode using alginate gel electrodeposition. Embryonic stem (ES) cells or hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) were cultured in the alginate gel microwells containing 3T3 cells. During the culture, embryoid bodies (EBs) or HepG2 spheroids were successfully fabricated in the alginate gel microwells. The oxygen consumption of the EBs indicated that they were successfully cultured. Liver-specific gene expressions of the HepG2 spheroids apparently increased by performing 3D co-culture in the microwell arrays with 3T3 cells. These results show that the alginate gel microwells are a useful 3D culture system.

Electrochemical Device with Interdigitated Ring Array Electrodes for Investigating the Relationship between Cardiomyocyte Differentiation from Embryonic Stem Cells and Alkaline Phosphatase Activity

“…23,24 Briefly, EBs were collected using a glass capillary, and total RNA purification was performed according to the protocol instruction of the RNeasy Micro Kit (Qiagen, Germany). The RT reaction was carried out to synthesize first-strand cDNA according to the protocol instruction of the QuantiTect reverse transcription kit (Qiagen).…”

Living Cell Microarrays: An Overview of Concepts

“…Suspensions consisting of cells and PEG were added into a network of microchannels on top of the slide, leading to a separation of different cell types without using a nanoprinter. Ozawa et al [173] used electrodeposition for the fabrication of an alginate gel microwell array, where they cultured ESCs and HepG2 cells to construct spheroids. Moreover, they could create a co-culture system where mouse fibroblast cells were entrapped in alginate layers, and spheroids of another cell type were cultured above.…”

Electrochemical Hydrogel Lithography of Calcium-Alginate Hydrogels for Cell Culture

“…In other reports, an alginate hydrogel without Ca 2+ was fabricated by enzyme-induced oxidative coupling of alginates modified with phenyl groups [7]. An electrochemical method for the formation of calcium-alginate hydrogels has also been reported [8,9,10,11,12,13]. In this method, electrodes are inserted into a sodium alginate solution containing CaCO 3 particles.…”