Figure 4.

Schematic description of the tissue strands technique based on the ability of the cells to self-assemble into a tissue. Sodium alginate and a crosslinker solution are used to form tubular alginate capsules with a coaxial nozzle into a cell culture dish. Once polymerized, the capsules are filled with a cell pellet, and their ends are tightly sealed with vessel clips. After a 5–7 day culture, a sodium citrate solution is added to depolymerize the capsules, leaving complete and dense tissue strands that can later be used as building blocks to form complex larger tissues [186].