Direct measurement of oxygen concentration inside cultured cartilage for relating to spatial growth of rabbit chondrocytes

A Hybrid Model of Cartilage Regeneration Capturing the Interactions Between Cellular Dynamics and Porosity

To accelerate the development of strategies for cartilage tissue engineering, models are necessary to investigate the interactions between cellular dynamics and the local microenvironment. We use a discrete framework to capture the individual behavior of cells, modeling experiments where cells are seeded in a porous scaffold or hydrogel and over the time course of a month, the scaffold slowly degrades while cells divide and synthesize extracellular matrix constituents. The movement of cells and the ability to proliferate is a function of the local porosity, defined as the volume fraction of fluid in the surrounding region. A phenomenological approach is used to capture a continuous profile for the degrading scaffold and accumulating matrix, which will then change the local porosity throughout the construct. We parameterize the model by first matching total cell counts in the construct to chondrocytes seeded in a polyglycolic acid scaffold (Freed et al. in Biotechnol Bioeng 43:597-604, 1994). We investigate the influence of initial scaffold porosity on the total cell count and spatial profiles of cell and ECM in the construct. Cell counts were higher at day 30 in scaffolds of lower initial porosity, and similar cell counts were obtained using different models of scaffold degradation and matrix accumulation (either uniform or cell-specific). Using this modeling framework, we study the interplay between a phenomenological representation of scaffold architecture and porosity as well as the potential continuous application of growth factors. We determine parameter regimes where large cellular aggregates occur, which can hinder matrix accumulation and cellular proliferation. The developed modeling framework can easily be extended and can be used to identify optimal scaffolds and culture conditions that lead to a desired distribution of extracellular matrix and cell counts throughout the construct.

Limitations of oxygen delivery to cells in culture: An underappreciated problem in basic and translational research

Molecular oxygen is one of the most important variables in modern cell culture systems. Fluctuations in its concentration can affect cell growth, differentiation, signaling, and free radical production. In order to maintain culture viability, experimental validity, and reproducibility, it is imperative that oxygen levels be consistently maintained within physiological "normoxic" limits. Use of the term normoxia, however, is not consistent among scientists who experiment in cell culture. It is typically used to describe the atmospheric conditions of a standard incubator, not the true microenvironment to which the cells are exposed. This error may lead to the situation where cells grown in a standard "normoxic" oxygen concentration may actually be experiencing a wide range of conditions ranging from hyperoxia to near-anoxic conditions at the cellular level. This apparent paradox is created by oxygen's sluggish rate of diffusion through aqueous medium, and the generally underappreciated effects that cell density, media volume, and barometric pressure can have on pericellular oxygen concentration in a cell culture system. This review aims to provide an overview of this phenomenon we have termed "consumptive oxygen depletion" (COD), and includes a basic review of the physics, potential consequences, and alternative culture methods currently available to help circumvent this largely unrecognized problem.

Modeling spatial distribution of oxygen in 3d culture of islet beta-cells

Three-dimensional (3D) scaffold culture of pancreatic β-cell has been proven to be able to better mimic physiological conditions in the body. However, one critical issue with culturing pancreatic β-cells is that β-cells consume large amounts of oxygen, and hence insufficient oxygen supply in the culture leads to loss of β-cell mass and functions. This becomes more significant when cells are cultured in a 3D scaffold. In this study, in order to understand the effect of oxygen tension inside a cell-laden collagen culture on β-cell proliferation, a culture model with encapsulation of an oxygen-generator was established. The oxygen-generator was made by embedding hydrogen peroxide into nontoxic polydimethylsiloxane to avoid the toxicity of a chemical reaction in the β-cell culture. To examine the effectiveness of the oxygenation enabled 3D culture, the spatial-temporal distribution of oxygen tension inside a scaffold was evaluated by a mathematical modeling approach. Our simulation results indicated that an oxygenation-aided 3D culture would augment the oxygen supply required for the β-cells. Furthermore, we identified that cell seeding density and the capacity of the oxygenator are two critical parameters in the optimization of the culture. Notably, cell-laden scaffold cultures with an in situ oxygen supply significantly improved the β-cells' biological function. These β-cells possess high insulin secretion capacity. The results obtained in this work would provide valuable information for optimizing and encouraging functional β-cell cultures. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:221-228, 2017.

Direct measurement of local dissolved oxygen concentration spatial profiles in a cell culture environment

Controlling local dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) in media is critical for cell or tissue cultures. Various biomaterials and culture methods have been developed to modulate DO. Direct measurement of local DO in cultures has not been validated as a method to test DO modulation. In the present study we developed a DO measurement system equipped with a Clark-type oxygen microelectrode manipulated with 1 μm precision in three-dimensional space to explore potential applications for tissue engineering. By determining the microelectrode tip position precisely against the bottom plane of culture dishes with rat or human cardiac cells in static monolayer culture, we successfully obtained spatial distributions of DO in the medium. Theoretical quantitative predictions fit the obtained data well. Based on analyses of the variance between samples, we found the data reflected "local" oxygen consumption in the vicinity of the microelectrode and the detection of temporal changes in oxygen consumption rates of cultured cells was limited by the diffusion rate of oxygen in the medium. This oxygen measuring system monitors local oxygen consumption and production with high spatial resolution, and can potentially be used with recently developed oxygen modulating biomaterials to design microenvironments and non-invasively monitor local DO dynamics during culture.