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Tian L, Ma J, Li W, Zhang X, Gao X. Microfiber Fabricated via Microfluidic Spinning toward Tissue Engineering Applications. Macromol Biosci 2023; 23:e2200429. [PMID: 36543751 DOI: 10.1002/mabi.202200429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Revised: 12/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Microfibers, a type of long, thin, and flexible material, can be assembled into functional 3D structures by folding, binding, and weaving. As a novel spinning method, combining microfluidic technology and wet spinning, microfluidic spinning technology can precisely control the size, morphology, structure, and composition of the microfibers. Particularly, the process is mild and rapid, which is suitable for preparing microfibers using biocompatible materials and without affecting the viability of cells encapsulated. Furthermore, owing to the controllability of microfluidic spinning, microfibers with well-defined structures (such as hollow structures) will contribute to the exchange of nutrients or guide cell orientation. Thus, this method is often used to fabricate microfibers as cell scaffolds for cell encapsulation or adhesion and can be further applied to biomimetic fibrous tissues. In this review, the focus is on different fiber structures prepared by microfluidic spinning technology, including solid, hollow, and heterogeneous structures, generated from three essential elements: spinning platform, fiber composition, and solidification methods. Furthermore, the application of microfibers is described with different structures in tissue engineering, such as blood vessels, skeletal muscle, bone, nerves, and lung bronchi. Finally, the challenges and future development prospects of microfluidic spinning technology in tissue engineering applications are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lingling Tian
- Materials Genome Institute, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, P. R. China
| | - Jingyun Ma
- Ningbo Institute of Innovation for Combined Medicine and Engineering, Ningbo Medical Center Li Huili Hospital, 57 Xingning Road, Ningbo, Zhejiang, 315100, P. R. China
| | - Wei Li
- Materials Genome Institute, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, P. R. China
| | - Xu Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of SSAC, Department of biotechnology, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, P. R. China
| | - Xinghua Gao
- Materials Genome Institute, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200444, P. R. China
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Abrishamkar A, Nilghaz A, Saadatmand M, Naeimirad M, deMello AJ. Microfluidic-assisted fiber production: Potentials, limitations, and prospects. Biomicrofluidics 2022; 16:061504. [PMID: 36406340 PMCID: PMC9674390 DOI: 10.1063/5.0129108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2022] [Revised: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 11/02/2022] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Besides the conventional fiber production methods, microfluidics has emerged as a promising approach for the engineered spinning of fibrous materials and offers excellent potential for fiber manufacturing in a controlled and straightforward manner. This method facilitates low-speed prototype synthesis of fibers for diverse applications while providing superior control over reaction conditions, efficient use of precursor solutions, reagent mixing, and process parameters. This article reviews recent advances in microfluidic technology for the fabrication of fibrous materials with different morphologies and a variety of properties aimed at various applications. First, the basic principles, as well as the latest developments and achievements of microfluidic-based techniques for fiber production, are introduced. Specifically, microfluidic platforms made of glass, polymers, and/or metals, including but not limited to microfluidic chips, capillary-based devices, and three-dimensional printed devices are summarized. Then, fiber production from various materials, such as alginate, gelatin, silk, collagen, and chitosan, using different microfluidic platforms with a broad range of cross-linking agents and mechanisms is described. Therefore, microfluidic spun fibers with diverse diameters ranging from submicrometer scales to hundreds of micrometers and structures, such as cylindrical, hollow, grooved, flat, core-shell, heterogeneous, helical, and peapod-like morphologies, with tunable sizes and mechanical properties are discussed in detail. Subsequently, the practical applications of microfluidic spun fibers are highlighted in sensors for biomedical or optical purposes, scaffolds for culture or encapsulation of cells in tissue engineering, and drug delivery. Finally, different limitations and challenges of the current microfluidic technologies, as well as the future perspectives and concluding remarks, are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Azadeh Nilghaz
- Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia
| | - Maryam Saadatmand
- Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, 11155-9465 Tehran, Iran
| | - Mohammadreza Naeimirad
- Department of Materials and Textile Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Razi University, 67144-14971 Kermanshah, Iran
| | - Andrew J. deMello
- Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg1, 8049 Zurich, Switzerland
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Compera N, Atwell S, Wirth J, Wolfrum B, Meier M. Upscaling of pneumatic membrane valves for the integration of 3D cell cultures on chip. Lab Chip 2021; 21:2986-2996. [PMID: 34143169 PMCID: PMC8314520 DOI: 10.1039/d1lc00194a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Microfluidic large-scale integration (mLSI) technology enables the automation of two-dimensional (2D) cell culture processes in a highly parallel manner. Despite the wide range of biological applications of mLSI chips, manufacturing limitations of the central functional element, the pneumatic membrane valve (PMV), make the technology inaccessible for integrating tissue cultures and organoids with dimensions larger than tens of microns. In this study, we developed microtechnology processes to upscale PMVs for mLSI chips by combining 3D printing and soft lithography. Therefore, we developed a robust soft lithography protocol for the production of polydimethylsiloxane chips with PMVs from 3D-printed acrylate and wax molds. While scaled-up PMVs manufactured from acrylate-printed molds exhibited channel profiles with staircases, owing to the inherent 3D stereolithography printing process, PMVs manufactured from reflowed wax molds exhibited a semi-half-rounded channel profile. PMVs with different channel profiles showed closing pressures between 130 and 22.5 kPa, respectively. We demonstrated the functionality of the scaled-up PMVs by forming and maintaining 3D cell cultures from mouse fibroblasts (NIH3T3), human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), and human adipose-derived adult stem cells (hASCs), with a narrow size distribution between 124 and 136 μm. Further, parallel and serial design of PMVs on an mLSI chip is used to first form and culture 3D cell cultures before fusing them within a defined flow process. Unit cell designs with upscaled PMVs enabled parallel formation, culturing, trapping, retrieval, and fusion of 3D cell cultures. Thus, the presented additive manufacturing strategy for mLSI chips will foster new developments for highly parallel 3D cell culture screening applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nina Compera
- Helmholtz Pioneer Campus, Helmholtz Zentrum München GmbH, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany.
| | - Scott Atwell
- Helmholtz Pioneer Campus, Helmholtz Zentrum München GmbH, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany.
| | - Johannes Wirth
- Helmholtz Pioneer Campus, Helmholtz Zentrum München GmbH, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany.
| | - Bernhard Wolfrum
- Neuroelectronics - Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Germany
| | - Matthias Meier
- Helmholtz Pioneer Campus, Helmholtz Zentrum München GmbH, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich, Germany. and TUM School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
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Zhao M, Liu H, Zhang X, Wang H, Tao T, Qin J. A flexible microfluidic strategy to generate grooved microfibers for guiding cell alignment. Biomater Sci 2021; 9:4880-4890. [PMID: 34152350 DOI: 10.1039/d1bm00549a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Hydrogel microfibers are widely applied in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine due to their tunable morphology, componential anisotropy, and good biocompatibility. Specifically, grooved microfibers with unique advantages can facilitate cell alignment for mimicking the microstructures of myobundles. Herein, a microfluidic spinning system is proposed for flexibly generating grooved microfibers relying on the volume change after ionic crosslinking of sodium alginate (NaA) with different concentrations. In the system, multiple parallel channels are integrated into a flow-focusing microchip and NaA with various concentrations is introduced into the respective channels for fabricating well-defined microfibers. The size and shape of the fibers are tuned by the viscosity and concentration of the NaA solution, as well as the flow rates of NaA and calcium chloride (CaCl2) in a controllable manner. Moreover, the grooved fibers with heterogeneous components can be generated via co-spinning gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) and NaA to form interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs). The microfibers with heterogeneous IPNs are successfully used as anisotropic scaffolds for the 3D culture of muscle cells (C2C12). The muscle cells grown on the microfibers exhibited good viability and ordered alignment, indicating the good biocompatibility and orientational function of the heterogeneous fibers. The proposed approach is flexible and controllable, holding potential in replicating various aligned microstructures in vivo, such as bundles of nerves and blood vessels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengqian Zhao
- CAS Key Laboratory of SSAC, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, P.R. China. and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P.R. China
| | - Haitao Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of SSAC, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, P.R. China. and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P.R. China
| | - Xu Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of SSAC, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, P.R. China.
| | - Hui Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of SSAC, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, P.R. China. and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P.R. China
| | - Tingting Tao
- CAS Key Laboratory of SSAC, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, P.R. China. and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P.R. China
| | - Jianhua Qin
- CAS Key Laboratory of SSAC, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, P.R. China. and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P.R. China and Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, P.R. China and CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China
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Sun T, Yao Y, Shi Q, Wang H, Dario P, Sun J, Huang Q, Fukuda T. Template-based fabrication of spatially organized 3D bioactive constructs using magnetic low-concentration gelation methacrylate (GelMA) microfibers. Soft Matter 2020; 16:3902-3913. [PMID: 32207757 DOI: 10.1039/c9sm01945f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Low concentrations of gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) microfibers are more favorable for cellular activity compared with high concentrations. However, applying low-concentration GelMA microfibers as building blocks for higher-order cellular assembly remains challenging owing to their poor mechanical properties. Herein, we report a new template-based method to solve this problem. GelMA microfibers (5%, w/v) containing magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized by a microfluidic spinning method. A 9 × 9 micropillar array surrounded by a magnetic substrate was constructed to form 8 × 8 microgaps arranged in a crisscross pattern as a magnetic template. In DMEM solution, magnetic attraction facilitated efficient arrangement of the microfibers according to the template with micron assembly accuracy, with a microgrid-like construct (microGC) generated after removing all micropillars. MicroGCs were shown to effectively support the activities of surface seeded or encapsulated cells and be flexibly constructed with various organized spatial patterns. Owing to the low mechanical property requirements of assembled microfibers and the easy-to-implement operation, the proposed method provides a versatile pathway for the assembly of various microfluidic spun microfibers. Furthermore, the resulting 3D microgrid-like cellular constructs with organized spatiotemporal composition offer a convenient platform for the study of tissue engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Sun
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, 100081, People's Republic of China.
| | - Yibing Yao
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, 100081, People's Republic of China. and Department of Geriatric Oncology, Fourth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, 100048, People's Republic of China
| | - Qing Shi
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, 100081, People's Republic of China. and Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Robots and Systems (Beijing Institute of Technology), Ministry of Education, 100081, People's Republic of China
| | - Huaping Wang
- Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Robots and Systems (Beijing Institute of Technology), Ministry of Education, 100081, People's Republic of China
| | - Paolo Dario
- BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, 56026, Italy
| | - Junzhong Sun
- Department of Geriatric Oncology, Fourth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, 100048, People's Republic of China
| | - Qiang Huang
- Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Robots and Systems (Beijing Institute of Technology), Ministry of Education, 100081, People's Republic of China
| | - Toshio Fukuda
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, 100081, People's Republic of China.
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Abstract
Hierarchical tissues composed of spheroid and fiber structures such as tumors, embryos and glomeruli widely exist in organisms. Methods have been developed to build spheroid and fiber structures, independently, as tissue models in vitro. However, it is still a challenge to print them simultaneously and integrated for effectively mimicking the complicated situations in vivo. Here, we propose a novel 3D cell co-culturing system, "microfiber-laden minispheroid", applying two fluidic phenomena, namely the "rope coiling effect" and "electrohydrodynamics", with a co-axial bioprinting nozzle and high voltage system. Gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogels were extruded from the outer nozzle and separated by electrical attraction to form spheroids (∼1800 μm). GelMA mixed with sodium alginate was extruded from the inner nozzle to form fibers (∼180 μm) inside spheroids, whose morphology could be controlled by the ratio of inner and outer nozzle extruding flow rates. We analyzed the fabrication process and the material system in detail, verifying the fabrication feasibility and suitable microenvironment. The encapsulated cells possessed high viabilities. Importantly, the actin of human umbilical vein endothelial cells tended to elongate towards the co-cultured tumor cells, in contrast to the HUVECs cultured alone. We believe that "microfiber-laden minispheroids" could be a potential system for 3D cell co-culturing research in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingjun Xie
- State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, School of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.
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Du XY, Li Q, Wu G, Chen S. Multifunctional Micro/Nanoscale Fibers Based on Microfluidic Spinning Technology. Adv Mater 2019; 31:e1903733. [PMID: 31573714 DOI: 10.1002/adma.201903733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 98] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2019] [Revised: 08/24/2019] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Superfine multifunctional micro/nanoscale fibrous materials with high surface area and ordered structure have attracted intensive attention for widespread applications in recent years. Microfluidic spinning technology (MST) has emerged as a powerful and versatile platform because of its various advantages such as high surface-area-to-volume ratio, effective heat transfer, and enhanced reaction rate. The resultant well-defined micro/nanoscale fibers exhibit controllable compositions, advanced structures, and new physical/chemical properties. The latest developments and achievements in microfluidic spun fiber materials are summarized in terms of the underlying preparation principles, geometric configurations, and functionalization. Variously architected structures and shapes by MST, including cylindrical, grooved, flat, anisotropic, hollow, core-shell, Janus, heterogeneous, helical, and knotted fibers, are emphasized. In particular, fiber-spinning chemistry in MST for achieving functionalization of fiber materials by in situ chemical reactions inside fibers is introduced. Additionally, the applications of the fabricated functional fibers are highlighted in sensors, microactuators, photoelectric devices, flexible electronics, tissue engineering, drug delivery, and water collection. Finally, recent progress, challenges, and future perspectives are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiang-Yun Du
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals and Functional Polymer Materials, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 210009, P. R. China
| | - Qing Li
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals and Functional Polymer Materials, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 210009, P. R. China
| | - Guan Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals and Functional Polymer Materials, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 210009, P. R. China
| | - Su Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals and Functional Polymer Materials, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 210009, P. R. China
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Sun T, Li X, Shi Q, Wang H, Huang Q, Fukuda T. Microfluidic Spun Alginate Hydrogel Microfibers and Their Application in Tissue Engineering. Gels 2018; 4:gels4020038. [PMID: 30674814 PMCID: PMC6209268 DOI: 10.3390/gels4020038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2018] [Revised: 03/22/2018] [Accepted: 03/24/2018] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Tissue engineering is focusing on processing tissue micro-structures for a variety of applications in cell biology and the “bottom-up” construction of artificial tissue. Over the last decade, microfluidic devices have provided novel tools for producing alginate hydrogel microfibers with various morphologies, structures, and compositions for cell cultivation. Moreover, microfluidic spun alginate microfibers are long, thin, and flexible, and these features facilitate higher-order assemblies for fabricating macroscopic cellular structures. In this paper, we present an overview of the microfluidic spinning principle of alginate hydrogel microfibers and their application as micro-scaffolds or scaffolding elements for 3D assembly in tissue engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Sun
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing 10081, China.
| | - Xingfu Li
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing 10081, China.
| | - Qing Shi
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing 10081, China.
| | - Huaping Wang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing 10081, China.
| | - Qiang Huang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing 10081, China.
| | - Toshio Fukuda
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing Institute of Technology, 5 South Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District, Beijing 10081, China.
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