Logo image
Back
Microinterfaces in bicontinuous hydrogels guide rapid 3D cell migration
Preprint   Open access

Microinterfaces in bicontinuous hydrogels guide rapid 3D cell migration

Karen L Xu, Nikolas di Caprio, Hooman Fallahi, Mohammad Dehgany, Matthew D Davidson, Brian CH Cheung, Lorielle Laforest, Mingming Wu, Vivek Shenoy, Lin Han, …
bioRxiv
05 Oct 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.09.28.559609
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2010.12.009View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Open Access (License Unspecified),  Open
url
https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.09.28.559609View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Cell migration is critical for tissue development and regeneration but requires extracellular environments that are conducive to motion. Cells may actively generate migratory routes in vivo by degrading or remodeling their environments or may instead utilize existing ECM microstructures or microtracks as innate pathways for migration. While hydrogels in general are valuable tools for probing the extracellular regulators of 3D migration, few have recapitulated these natural migration paths. Here, we developed a biopolymer-based (i.e., gelatin and hyaluronic acid) bicontinuous hydrogel system formed through controlled solution immiscibility whose continuous subdomains and high micro-interfacial surface area enabled rapid 3D migration, particularly when compared to homogeneous hydrogels. Migratory behavior was mesenchymal in nature and regulated by biochemical and biophysical signals from the hydrogel, which was shown across various cell types and physiologically relevant contexts (e.g., cell spheroids, ex vivo tissues, in vivo tissues). Our findings introduce a new design that leverages important local interfaces to guide rapid cell migration.

Metrics

23 Record Views

Details

Logo image