Peptide-based microcapsules obtained by self-assembly and microfluidics as controlled environments for cell culture

Abstract

Self-assembled peptide capsules allow co-culture of cells and control of cell-matrix interactions.159x79mm (96 x 96 DPI) AbstractPeptides are excellent building blocks to form precise nanostructures by self-assembly.They can self-assemble into fibril nanostructures, thus recreating some of the architectural features of the natural extracellular matrix. Here, we used a microfluidic approach to drive the self-assembly of peptides of opposite charge into capsular structures for cell encapsulation. The obtained capsules presented a core shell structure made of a network of nanofibers and their properties can be tuned by varying the concentration of each peptide. Capsules were found to be stable in aqueous solutions and their permeability dependent on the capsule composition.Human dermal fibroblasts were encapsulated and remained viable within the capsules and their morphology was shown to be influenced by the matrix density. Additionally, these capsules also supported the co-culture of fibroblasts and keratinocytes. We expect that the developed peptide-based microcapsules can serve as miniaturized environments for cell culture and as biomimetic platforms for in vitro drug screening.

Core–shell designed scaffolds for drug delivery and tissue engineering

“…11). Moreover, core-shell structured microcapsules were prepared with a microfluidic device through the self-assembly of peptides of opposite charges [126]. The selfassembled fibrous microcapsules were found to be stable in aqueous solutions and their permeability was dependent on the capsule composition.…”

Generation and manipulation of hydrogel microcapsules by droplet-based microfluidics for mammalian cell culture

“…This cell segregation is probably due to the differential E -cadherin expression of these two types of cells, which would induce spontaneous cell reorganization to minimize overall interfacial free energy according to the differential adhesion hypothesis 205, 206 . Likewise, fibroblasts encapsulated in peptide-based self-assembly hydrogel microcapsules could be co-cultured with keratinocytes binding on the surface of hydrogel microcapsules 207 , while epithelial and mesenchymal microtissues were co-cultured based on the complementary sequence of templating DNA 208 . Janus hydrogel microcapsules (Fig.…”

Nanoengineering Hybrid Supramolecular Multilayered Biomaterials Using Polysaccharides and Self‐Assembling Peptide Amphiphiles

“…[5b,7c,8d,9] Besides hierarchically structured membranes, other self‐assembled supramolecular systems can also be formed making use of strong electrostatic interactions between small PAs and large macromolecules or simply oppositely charged PA molecules. Such self‐assembled supramolecular systems include microcapsules and nanofiber scaffolds …”