1. Facile One‐Step Micropatterning Using Photodegradable Gelatin Hydrogels for Improved Cardiomyocyte Organization and Alignment
- Author
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Tsang, Kelly MC, Annabi, Nasim, Ercole, Francesca, Zhou, Kun, Karst, Daniel, Li, Fanyi, Haynes, John M, Evans, Richard A, Thissen, Helmut, Khademhosseini, Ali, and Forsythe, John S
- Subjects
Bioengineering ,Gelatin Methacrylate ,cardiomyocyte alignment ,photodegradable hydrogels ,photopatterning ,tissue engineering ,Physical Sciences ,Chemical Sciences ,Engineering ,Materials - Abstract
Hydrogels are often employed as temporary platforms for cell proliferation and tissue organization in vitro. Researchers have incorporated photodegradable moieties into synthetic polymeric hydrogels as a means of achieving spatiotemporal control over material properties. In this study protein-based photodegradable hydrogels composed of methacrylated gelatin (GelMA) and a crosslinker containing o-nitrobenzyl ester groups have been developed. The hydrogels are able to degrade rapidly and specifically in response to UV light and can be photopatterned to a variety of shapes and dimensions in a one-step process. Micropatterned photodegradable hydrogels are shown to improve cell distribution, alignment and beating regularity of cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Overall this work introduces a new class of photodegradable hydrogel based on natural and biofunctional polymers as cell culture substrates for improving cellular organization and function.
- Published
- 2015