TY - JOUR
T1 - 3D printing of soft lithography mold for rapid production of polydimethylsiloxane-based microfluidic devices for cell stimulation with concentration gradients
AU - Kamei, Ken ichiro
AU - Mashimo, Yasumasa
AU - Koyama, Yoshie
AU - Fockenberg, Christopher
AU - Nakashima, Miyuki
AU - Nakajima, Minako
AU - Li, Junjun
AU - Chen, Yong
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media New York.
PY - 2015/4
Y1 - 2015/4
N2 - Three-dimensional (3D) printing is advantageous over conventional technologies for the fabrication of sophisticated structures such as 3D micro-channels for future applications in tissue engineering and drug screening. We aimed to apply this technology to cell-based assays using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), the most commonly used material for fabrication of micro-channels used for cell culture experiments. Useful properties of PDMS include biocompatibility, gas permeability and transparency. We developed a simple and robust protocol to generate PDMS-based devices using a soft lithography mold produced by 3D printing. 3D chemical gradients were then generated to stimulate cells confined to a micro-channel. We demonstrate that concentration gradients of growth factors, important regulators of cell/tissue functions in vivo, influence the survival and growth of human embryonic stem cells. Thus, this approach for generation of 3D concentration gradients could have strong implications for tissue engineering and drug screening.
AB - Three-dimensional (3D) printing is advantageous over conventional technologies for the fabrication of sophisticated structures such as 3D micro-channels for future applications in tissue engineering and drug screening. We aimed to apply this technology to cell-based assays using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), the most commonly used material for fabrication of micro-channels used for cell culture experiments. Useful properties of PDMS include biocompatibility, gas permeability and transparency. We developed a simple and robust protocol to generate PDMS-based devices using a soft lithography mold produced by 3D printing. 3D chemical gradients were then generated to stimulate cells confined to a micro-channel. We demonstrate that concentration gradients of growth factors, important regulators of cell/tissue functions in vivo, influence the survival and growth of human embryonic stem cells. Thus, this approach for generation of 3D concentration gradients could have strong implications for tissue engineering and drug screening.
KW - 3D printing
KW - Concentration gradient
KW - Human embryonic stem cell
KW - Microfluidics
KW - Polydimethylsiloxane
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84923005944&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84923005944&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10544-015-9928-y
DO - 10.1007/s10544-015-9928-y
M3 - Article
C2 - 25686903
AN - SCOPUS:84923005944
SN - 1387-2176
VL - 17
JO - Biomedical Microdevices
JF - Biomedical Microdevices
IS - 2
ER -