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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Sep 1.
Published in final edited form as: Small. 2019 Aug 13;15(39):e1903147. doi: 10.1002/smll.201903147

Figure 1. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) delivery and in situ niche creation strategy using annealed monodisperse hydrogel particles.

Figure 1.

(A) An artificial stem cell niche is created in situ by annealing a suspension of injectable monodisperse hydrogel particles. Highly monodisperse particle building blocks enable the generation of a pore network in a highly controllable manner, which promotes the transport of oxygen and nutrients as well as cell migration. The biophysical properties of building blocks are modulated to enhance the functions of the transplanted MSCs. (B) Monodisperse hydrogel particles or µgels produced by the microfluidic device. Scale bar: 200 µm. (C) Tissue scaffold assembled from monodisperse µgels. Scale bar: 200 µm. (D) Diffusivity of 70 kDa dextran and 0.3 kDa FITC in non-porous scaffolds (N), MAP scaffolds (M) and PBS (n = 4 – 7). Data are presented as average ± s.d. Statistical significance based on one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s HSD post hoc test (significance compared to N, ****p < 0.0001). (E) Hydraulic conductivity of PBS through the non-porous scaffold (N) and MAP scaffold (M) at atmospheric pressure (n = 3). Data are presented as average ± s.d. Statistical significance based on standard two-tailed Student t-test (****p < 0.0001). (F) Fluorescent images of MSCs in vitro cultured in microporous scaffolds and non-porous scaffolds at week 2. Blue, nucleus; Green, actin; Red, gel. Scale bar: 50 µm.