Issue 55, 2015

Building cell-containing multilayered phospholipid polymer hydrogels for controlling the diffusion of a bioactive reagent

Abstract

Cytocompatible and multilayered phospholipid polymer hydrogels containing living cells and a specific bioactive reagent were used to determine the role of diffusion of a bioactive reagent in regulating cell-fate. Within the multilayered hydrogels prepared by a layer-by-layer assembling process, a bioactive reagent reservoir layer and a cell-laden layer were separated with a finely formed dual-crosslinked hydrogel multilayer that was composed of a 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine polymer and photo-reactive poly(vinyl alcohol). The dual-crosslinked hydrogel was less permeable than the single-crosslinked hydrogel and thus served as a diffusion-controlling barrier. We demonstrated the use of this multilayered hydrogel by subjecting the human cervical cancer HeLa cell-line to paclitaxel. We found that cell viability was regulated by the thickness of the diffusion-controlling barrier and the bioactive reagent concentration. An increase in the barrier thickness and a decrease in the bioactive reagent concentration resulted in decreased apoptosis of the HeLa cells. Our results suggest that the gradient of a bioactive reagent formed was due to the diffusion-controlling barriers, which explains the observed diffusion-dependent cell behavior. This study provides insight into the regulation of bioactive reagent diffusion in micrometer scale hydrogels and the associated diffusion-dependent effects on cell behavior. This finding can contribute to the design of a platform for studying diffusion-dependent cell behavior for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.

Graphical abstract: Building cell-containing multilayered phospholipid polymer hydrogels for controlling the diffusion of a bioactive reagent

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 Mar 2015
Accepted
24 Apr 2015
First published
27 Apr 2015
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2015,5, 44408-44415

Author version available

Building cell-containing multilayered phospholipid polymer hydrogels for controlling the diffusion of a bioactive reagent

B. Gao, T. Konno and K. Ishihara, RSC Adv., 2015, 5, 44408 DOI: 10.1039/C5RA05299H

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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