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Utagawa Y, Ino K, Kumagai T, Hiramoto K, Takinoue M, Nashimoto Y, Shiku H. Electrochemical Glue for Binding Chitosan–Alginate Hydrogel Fibers for Cell Culture. MICROMACHINES 2022; 13:mi13030420. [PMID: 35334714 PMCID: PMC8952256 DOI: 10.3390/mi13030420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Revised: 03/01/2022] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Three-dimensional organs and tissues can be constructed using hydrogels as support matrices for cells. For the assembly of these gels, chemical and physical reactions that induce gluing should be induced locally in target areas without causing cell damage. Herein, we present a novel electrochemical strategy for gluing hydrogel fibers. In this strategy, a microelectrode electrochemically generated HClO or Ca2+, and these chemicals were used to crosslink chitosan–alginate fibers fabricated using interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation. Further, human umbilical vein endothelial cells were incorporated into the fibers, and two such fibers were glued together to construct “+”-shaped hydrogels. After gluing, the hydrogels were embedded in Matrigel and cultured for several days. The cells spread and proliferated along the fibers, indicating that the electrochemical glue was not toxic toward the cells. This is the first report on the use of electrochemical glue for the assembly of hydrogel pieces containing cells. Based on our results, the electrochemical gluing method has promising applications in tissue engineering and the development of organs on a chip.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoshinobu Utagawa
- Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan; (Y.U.); (T.K.); (K.H.)
| | - Kosuke Ino
- Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan;
- Correspondence: (K.I.); (H.S.)
| | - Tatsuki Kumagai
- Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan; (Y.U.); (T.K.); (K.H.)
| | - Kaoru Hiramoto
- Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan; (Y.U.); (T.K.); (K.H.)
| | - Masahiro Takinoue
- Department of Computer Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama 226-8502, Japan;
| | - Yuji Nashimoto
- Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan;
- Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan
| | - Hitoshi Shiku
- Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan;
- Correspondence: (K.I.); (H.S.)
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