Table 1.
Polymeric hydrogel matrices for engineered tissue models and their applications.
| Type of polymer (polymer backbone) | Crosslinking method | Cell source | Engineered 3D tissue models | Applications | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural (collagen) | Thermogelation | NHEKs, NHDFS, SCC-12B and SCC13 | Skin tissues (in vitro models for normal skin and human cutaneous SCC) | - Studying the molecular mechanism of carcinoma progression; - Assess the effect of EGFR activation and inhibition on SCC progression |
[32] |
| Natural (collagen) | Thermogelation | ADSCs | Skin tissues (tissue-engineered dermo-epidermal skin grafts) | - Evaluating prevascularized skin graft | [33] |
| Synthetic (PEG) | Chemical crosslinking (click-chemistry) | ECs and mural cells (MSCS, SMCs, HDFs) | In vitro angiogenesis models | - Studying the regulation of heterocellular communication | [34] |
| Semi-synthetic (gelatin) | Chemical crosslinking (laccase-mediated crosslinking reaction) | ECFCs | Vascular tissues | - Creating 3D vasculatures; - Studying basic cell biology for the hypoxia effect on vascular morphogenesis |
[22] |
| Semi-synthetic (HA/gelatin) | Chemical crosslinking (photo-crosslinking reaction) | GBM | Tumor models (brain tumor models) | - Studying the effect of spatial gradation on brain tumor cells | [35] |
| Semi-synthetic (HA) | Chemical crosslinking (Michael-type addition reaction) | HT1080 and ECFCs | Tumor models (tumor angiogenesis models) | - Investigating the effect of matrix stiffness and oxygen tension on vascular cell invasion | [36] |
| Semi-synthetic (HA) | Chemical crosslinking (click-reaction) | MCF-7, T-47D, SK-MEL-28 and MDA-MB-231 | Tumor models (tumor invasion models) | - Studying the effect of matric stiffness and cell adhesion ligand density on cancer cell invasion | [31] |
| Semi-synthetic (PEG/heparin) | Chemical crosslinking (maleimide-mediated crosslinking reaction) | HUVECs, MSCs, MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, LNCaP, PC3 | Tumor models (tumor angiogenesis models) | - Tri-culture systems to investigate the effect of cell components on tumor angiogenesis and drug resistance | [37] |
| Semi-synthetic (PEG) | Chemical crosslinking (photo-crosslinking reaction) | Hepatocytes | Liver models (hepatic tissue models) | - Investigating the effect of hepatocyte density on the in vitro function of hepatic tissues; - Liver tissue regeneration |
[38] |
| Semi-synthetic (PEG) | Chemical crosslinking (photo-crosslinking reaction) | Human embryonic stem cell-derived pancreatic precursor cell aggregates | Pancreatic islet models | - Studying the effect of collage type I on islet aggregate formation and their viability within the microenvironment | [39] |
ADSCs, adipose-derived stem cells; ECs, endothelial cells; ECFCs, endothelial colony-forming cells; EGFR, epidermal growth factor receptor; GBM, glioblastoma multiforme; HA, hyaluronic acid; HDFs, human dermal fibroblasts; HT1080, human fibrosarcomas; MCF-7: human breast adenocarcinoma cell line; MDA-MB-231, human breast adenocarcinoma cell line; MSCs, mesenchymal stem cells; NHDFs, primary normal human dermal fibroblasts; NHEKs, primary normal human epidermal keratinocytes; PEG, poly(ethylene glycol); SCC, squamous cell carcinoma; SK-MEL-28, skin melanoma cell line; SMCs, smooth muscle cells; T-47D, human ductal breast epithelial tumor cell line.