Preparation of microhydrogel with hierarchic structures
Description: This research describes a microfluidic device-based approach using a phase-separated polymer blend solution with rapid cross-linking process for fabrication of biomimetic bundle structured gel fibres as a candidate for cell culture scaffold that are able to mimic hierarchic tissue structures. As raw materials for bundled gel fibre, two natural derived biocompatible polysaccharide polymers are employed. The resulting bundled gel fibres are approximately 200 ~ 400 micrometer in diameter, consisting of 100 ~ 10000 aligned continuous microfibres, creating a composite fibrous material with enhanced mechanical properties which is a unique feature of three-dimensionally cross-linked multiple complex hierarchic fibres. As a result of cell culture study, the cells formed cylinder-like shape along the fibre orientation. We believe that these results promise to be a great candidate for tissue scaffolds but also wide biomaterial applications such as tissue engineering.
Amount: ¥24,830,000
Funding type: fellowship
Funder scheme: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
Start date: 2013-04-01
End date: 2015-03-31
Investigator: Yukiko MATSUNAGA
Institution: The University of Tokyo
Funded outputs count: 2
Funder award ID: 25706010
OpenAlex ID: G831705487