中国物理B ›› 2018, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (12): 128703-128703.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/27/12/128703

• INTERDISCIPLINARY PHYSICS AND RELATED AREAS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY • 上一篇    下一篇

Controlled generation of cell-laden hydrogel microspheres with core-shell scaffold mimicking microenvironment of tumor

Yuenan Li(李岳南), Miaomiao Hai(海苗苗), Yu Zhao(赵宇), Yalei Lv(吕亚蕾), Yi He(何益), Guo Chen(陈果), Liyu Liu(刘雳宇), Ruchuan Liu(刘如川), Guigen Zhang   

  1. 1 Department of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China;
    2 Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
  • 收稿日期:2018-05-02 修回日期:2018-09-26 出版日期:2018-12-05 发布日期:2018-12-05
  • 通讯作者: Ruchuan Liu, Guigen Zhang E-mail:phyliurc@cqu.edu.cn;guigen.bme@uky.edu
  • 基金资助:

    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11474345, 11674043, and 11604030) and the Fundamental and Advanced Research Program of Chongqing (Grant No. cstc2018jcyjAX0338).

Controlled generation of cell-laden hydrogel microspheres with core-shell scaffold mimicking microenvironment of tumor

Yuenan Li(李岳南)1, Miaomiao Hai(海苗苗)1, Yu Zhao(赵宇)2, Yalei Lv(吕亚蕾)1, Yi He(何益)1, Guo Chen(陈果)1, Liyu Liu(刘雳宇)1, Ruchuan Liu(刘如川)1, Guigen Zhang2   

  1. 1 Department of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China;
    2 Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA
  • Received:2018-05-02 Revised:2018-09-26 Online:2018-12-05 Published:2018-12-05
  • Contact: Ruchuan Liu, Guigen Zhang E-mail:phyliurc@cqu.edu.cn;guigen.bme@uky.edu
  • Supported by:

    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11474345, 11674043, and 11604030) and the Fundamental and Advanced Research Program of Chongqing (Grant No. cstc2018jcyjAX0338).

摘要:

Development of an in vitro three-dimensional (3D) model that closely mimics actual environment of tissue has become extraordinarily important for anti-cancer study. In recent years, various 3D cell culture systems have been developed, with multicellular tumor spheroids being the most popular and effective model. In this work, we present a microfluidic device used as a robust platform for generating core-shell hydrogel microspheres with precisely controlled sizes and varied components of hydrogel matrix. To gain a better understanding of the governing mechanism of microsphere formation, computational models based on multiphase flow were developed to numerically model the droplet generation and velocity field evolution process with COMSOL Multiphysics software. Our modeling results show good agreement with experiments in size dependence on flow rate as well as effect of vortex flow on microsphere formation. With real-time tuning of the flow rates of aqueous phase and oil phase, tumor cells were encapsulated into the microspheres with controllable core-shell structure and different volume ratios of core (comprised of alginate, Matrigel, and/or Collagen) and shell (comprised of alginate). Viability of cells in four different hydrogel matrices were evaluated by standard acridine orange (AO) and propidium iodide (PI) staining. The proposed microfluidic system can play an important role in engineering the in vitro micro-environment of tumor spheroids to better mimic the actual in vivo 3D spatial structure of a tumor and perfect the 3D tumor models for more effective clinical therapies.

关键词: microfluidics, core-shell scaffold, phase field method, tumor spheroids

Abstract:

Development of an in vitro three-dimensional (3D) model that closely mimics actual environment of tissue has become extraordinarily important for anti-cancer study. In recent years, various 3D cell culture systems have been developed, with multicellular tumor spheroids being the most popular and effective model. In this work, we present a microfluidic device used as a robust platform for generating core-shell hydrogel microspheres with precisely controlled sizes and varied components of hydrogel matrix. To gain a better understanding of the governing mechanism of microsphere formation, computational models based on multiphase flow were developed to numerically model the droplet generation and velocity field evolution process with COMSOL Multiphysics software. Our modeling results show good agreement with experiments in size dependence on flow rate as well as effect of vortex flow on microsphere formation. With real-time tuning of the flow rates of aqueous phase and oil phase, tumor cells were encapsulated into the microspheres with controllable core-shell structure and different volume ratios of core (comprised of alginate, Matrigel, and/or Collagen) and shell (comprised of alginate). Viability of cells in four different hydrogel matrices were evaluated by standard acridine orange (AO) and propidium iodide (PI) staining. The proposed microfluidic system can play an important role in engineering the in vitro micro-environment of tumor spheroids to better mimic the actual in vivo 3D spatial structure of a tumor and perfect the 3D tumor models for more effective clinical therapies.

Key words: microfluidics, core-shell scaffold, phase field method, tumor spheroids

中图分类号:  (Biophysical techniques (research methods))

  • 87.80.-y
87.64.Aa (Computer simulation)