Photo and Reduction Dual-Responsive Hydrogel for Regulating Cell Adhesion and Cell Sheet Harvest

Abstract

Regulating cell–surface interactions plays a key role for biomaterials and their applications in cell-based therapies. In this paper, we demonstrated a dual-responsive hydrogel platform to achieve phototriggered protein immobilization and reduction-induced protein release. By o-nitrobenzyl photochemistry, including sequential aldehyde generation upon light irradiation and imine ligation with amine compounds, adhesive proteins can be effectively immobilized on the hydrogel with spatial and quantitative control, thus mediating cell adhesion in designed areas. By reduction chemistry of the disulfide bond, the patterned proteins can be released from the hydrogel, thus detaching cells in a noninvasive manner. Finally, the dynamic adsorption–dissociation of proteins enables the hydrogel to be tactfully used for cell sheet harvesting in an enzyme-free mode with light-defined shapes. This work not only provides an efficient strategy for recovery of cells and cell sheets but also provides insights into cell–material interactions mediated by proteins.

Phototriggered structures: Latest advances in biomedical applications

“…PTDDSs facilitate the release of LGs such as therapeutic agents or drug cargos through different mechanisms including bond cleavage 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , isomerization 90 , 91 , 92 , photo-oxidation 93 , 94 , photo-reduction 95 , 96 , cross-linking 97 , 98 and photocaging/uncaging 99 , 100 , by light irradiation. These transformations can be caused disruption and dissociation of extant structures or even altering the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) transition 8 , 101 , 102 .…”

Photo-Crosslinkable Polymeric Coatings Providing Chemically Versatile Reactive Surfaces on Various Substrates

“…1−4 Specifically, in the case of 2D cell culture, it is important to create an engineered surface to modulate the interactions between cells and the surface. 5,6 Another example is material surface patterning at the micro-or nanometer scale, which requires significant engineering of the molecular architecture of materials 7,8 to enable the manufacturing of almost all electronic devices with a photolithographic tool to fabricate integrated circuits. 9 The fine control of surface energy enables the regulation of the self-assembly behaviors of block copolymer chains to form nano-sized domains with desired orientation and alignment.…”

“…Engineering the surface properties of materials for a targeted application is crucial for them to attain their desired functions and, hence, requires precise molecular engineering skills. For example, selective immobilization of biomaterials, including oligopeptides and engineered proteins, is considered a versatile tool to understand the behaviors of cells on 2D or in 3D materials. − Specifically, in the case of 2D cell culture, it is important to create an engineered surface to modulate the interactions between cells and the surface. , Another example is material surface patterning at the micro- or nanometer scale, which requires significant engineering of the molecular architecture of materials , to enable the manufacturing of almost all electronic devices with a photolithographic tool to fabricate integrated circuits . The fine control of surface energy enables the regulation of the self-assembly behaviors of block copolymer chains to form nano-sized domains with desired orientation and alignment. − …”

A Facile Synthetic Approach to UV-Degradable Hydrogels

“…This process usually requires many steps of complex reactions to obtain the desired products, and these reactions may require more precise reaction conditions and experimental manipulations. In order to better understand the progress of light-degradable hydrogels, we have analyzed and summarized the previous works and found the following general shortcomings: On the one hand, the synthesis of light cleavage crosslinkers is complex, and the steps are tedious [ 25 , 26 ]. Some even need 5 or 6 steps to get the desired light cleavage crosslinkers.…”