Engineered micro-objects as scaffolding elements in cellular building blocks for bottom-up tissue engineering approaches

Abstract

A material-based bottom-up approach is proposed towards an assembly of cells and engineered micro-objects at the macroscale. We show how shape, size and wettability of engineered micro-objects play an important role in the behavior of cells on these objects. This approach can, among other applications, be used as a tool to engineer complex 3D tissues of clinically relevant size.

Keywords: biofabrication; bottom-up tissue engineering; cell aggregates; human mesenchymal stromal cells; micro-objects.