Liquid Marble as Bioreactor for Engineering Three-Dimensional Toroid Tissues

Sci Rep. 2017 Sep 28;7(1):12388. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-12636-5.

Abstract

Liquid marble is a liquid droplet coated with hydrophobic powder that can be used as a bioreactor. This paper reports the three-dimensional self-assembly and culture of a cell toroid in a slow-releasing, non-adhesive and evaporation-reducing bioreactor platform based on a liquid marble. The bioreactor is constructed by embedding a hydrogel sphere containing growth factor into a liquid marble filled with a suspension of dissociated cells. The hydrogel maintains the water content and concurrently acts as a slow-release carrier. The concentration gradient of growth factor induces cell migration and assembly into toroidal aggregates. An optimum cell concentration resulted in the toroidal (doughnut-like) tissue after 12 hours. The harvested cell toroids showed rapid closure of the inner opening when treated with the growth factor. We also present a geometric growth model to describe the shape of the toroidal tissue over time. In analogy to the classical two-dimensional scratch assay, we propose that the cell toroids reported here open up new possibilities to screen drugs affecting cell migration in three dimensions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bioreactors*
  • Cell Culture Techniques / instrumentation*
  • Cell Culture Techniques / methods
  • Cell Line
  • Cell Movement
  • Hydrogels / chemistry
  • Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
  • Mice
  • Models, Biological*
  • Neuroglia
  • Olfactory Mucosa / cytology
  • Tissue Engineering / methods*

Substances

  • Hydrogels