Hydrogels, containing yeast cells or fibroblast cells, were fabricated using blue light-induced polymerization technique. The cell-loaded prepolymer formulation was comprised of poly(ethyleneglycol) diacrylate (more than or equal to 50% v/v), 0.5 wt % Eosin Y and 0.5 wt % triethanolamine as the base oligomer, photo-initiator, and co-initiator, respectively. The two model cell lines, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and NIH 3T3 fibroblasts maintained high viability pre- and post-processing. Several bioassays have demonstrated the unaffected intracellular and extracellular activities of the cells entrapped within the hydrogels. Scanning electron microscopy confirmed the proliferation of S. cerevisiae cells that were entrapped and cultivated for 48 h in growth media, which validated the favorable microenvironment and nutrient transport in these gels. Upon entrapment, fibroblast cells remain viable upto 12 h, however they failed to attach within the crosslinked network, thus no further proliferation was observed. The tunable properties of this hydrogel system project it as a useful matrix for specialized biohybrids.

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Journal Article | Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Authors

Mishra S, Scarano FJ, Calvert P

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