Development of Multi-Dimensional Cell Co-Culture via a Novel Microfluidic Chip Fabricated by DMD-Based Optical Projection Lithography

Abstract

Establishing a physiological microenvironment in vitro that is suitable for cell and tissue growth is essential for medical research. Microfluidic chips are widely used in the construction of a microenvironment and the analysis of cell behavior in vitro; however, the design and manufacture of microfluidic chips for the long-term culture of a tumor model tends to be highly complex and timeconsuming. In this paper, we propose a method for the rapid fabrication of a microfluidic chip for multi-dimensional cell co-culture. A major advantage of this method is that the microfluidic chip can be divided into several sections by micro-pillar arrays to form different functional regions to grow two-and three-dimensional cell culture on the same matrix. At the micro-scale, the surface tension between the gelatin methacryloyl-encapsulated cells and micro-pillars prevents the leakage of the hydrogel, and the hydrogel provides a three-dimensional microenvironment for cell growth. Our results of long-term cell culture and preclinical drug screening showed that cells cultured in a two-dimensional monolayer differ from three-dimensional cultured cells in terms of morphology, area, survival rate, proliferation, and drug resistance. This method shows potential for use in the study of cell behavior, drug screening, and tissue engineering.

The Sex-Related Interplay between TME and Cancer: On the Critical Role of Estrogen, MicroRNAs and Autophagy

“…These models should recreate the physiological and mechanical cues typical of cancer microenvironment, recapitulating the relationship between tumor cells and TME and possibly reproducing sexual dimorphism [39]. Recent advances in three-dimensional (3D) modeling, also using chips and microfluidic devices [170,171], provide us with the opportunity of studying the biology of TME. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that govern the complex interactions between tumor cells and microenvironments could contribute to the progress of therapeutic strategies that encompass the biological complexity of a tumor by reducing the gap between translational research and clinical practice.…”

Side-view optical microscopy-assisted atomic force microscopy for thickness-dependent nanobiomechanics

“…The centrifuge tube was then heated at 50 °C in the dark for 30 min (the tube was shaken several times). Subsequently, the GelMA solution was dropped onto a fresh coverslip, and then a digital mirror device (DMD)-based optical projection lithography system 35 was used to irradiate the hydrogel solution with UV light for polymerization, after which hydrogel patches of different heights were obtained.…”

Engineering Biological Tissues from the Bottom-Up: Recent Advances and Future Prospects

“…-High production costs. [11,25,28,47,98,[106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119] Using acoustic assembly, only a few seconds are needed to obtain simple geometry of microgel units. In addition to this, cell viability can also be highly maintained through this method.…”