Egg-in-cube: design and fabrication of a novel artificial eggshell with functionalized surface

PLoS One. 2015 Mar 13;10(3):e0118624. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118624. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

An eggshell is a porous microstructure that regulates the passage of gases to allow respiration. The chick embryo and its circulatory system enclosed by the eggshell has become an important model for biomedical research such as the control of angiogenesis, cancer therapy, and drug delivery test, because the use of embryo is ethically acceptable and it is inexpensive and small. However, chick embryo and extra-embryonic blood vessels cannot be accessed freely and has poor observability because the eggshell is tough and cannot be seen through, which limits its application. In this study, a novel artificial eggshell with functionalized surface is proposed, which allows the total amount of oxygen to pass into the egg for the chick embryo culturing and has high observability and accessibility for embryo manipulation. First, a 40-mm enclosed cubic-shaped eggshell consisting of a membrane structure and a rigid frame structure is designed, and then the threshold of the membrane thickness suitable for the embryo survival is figured out according to the oxygen-permeability of the membrane structure. The designed artificial eggshell was actually fabricated by using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polycarbonate (PC) in the current study. Using the fabricated eggshell, chick embryo and extra-embryonic blood vessels can be observed from multiple directions. To test the effectiveness of the design, the cubic eggshells were used to culture chick embryos and survivability was confirmed when PDMS membranes with adequate oxygen permeability were used. Since the surface of the eggshell is transparent, chick embryo tissue development could be observed during the culture period. Additionally, the chick embryo tissues could be accessed and manipulated from outside the cubic eggshell, by using mechanical tools without breakage of the eggshell. The proposed "Egg-in-Cube" with functionalized surface has great potential to serve as a promising platform for biomedical research.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biomimetic Materials / chemistry*
  • Biomimetic Materials / pharmacology*
  • Blood Vessels / drug effects
  • Blood Vessels / physiology
  • Chick Embryo
  • Dimethylpolysiloxanes / chemistry
  • Egg Shell*
  • Embryo Culture Techniques
  • Oxygen / chemistry
  • Permeability
  • Polycarboxylate Cement / chemistry
  • Surface Properties
  • Tissue Survival / drug effects

Substances

  • Dimethylpolysiloxanes
  • Polycarboxylate Cement
  • polycarbonate
  • baysilon
  • Oxygen

Grants and funding

This work was partially supported by JSPS KAKENHI (23106002, 26630100), and the Program to Disseminate Tenure Track System, MEXT, Japan. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.