Toward development of the CellWell - a novel micropatterned semi-3D cell culture scaffold.

摘要

Successfully shaping agarose hydrogels into the well plate configuration is the first step towards a complete 3D cell culture scaffold. Future work will include optimization of the reflow process to enhance the hemispherical nature of photolithographic stamping features as well as optimization of stamping techniques. Additional hydrogel materials, such as chitosan, will also be incorporated to optimize substrate properties for use as a thin film tissue model of articular cartilage. After mechanical optimization, the substrates will be seeded with primary human articular chondrocytes to assess cytocompatibility of the substrate and long-term maintenance of chondrocyte phenotype.