Marcy Zenobi-Wong

Engineering the Extracellular Environment: Strategies for Building 2D and 3D Cellular Structures

Cell fate is regulated by extracellular environmental signals. Receptor specific interaction of the cell with proteins, glycans, soluble factors as well as neighboring cells can steer cells towards proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis or migration. In this review, approaches to build cellular structures by engineering aspects of the extracellular environment are described. These methods include non-specific modifications to control the wettability and stiffness of surfaces using self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) and polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) as well as methods where the temporal activation and spatial distribution of adhesion ligands is controlled. Building on these techniques, construction of two-dimensional cell sheets using temperature sensitive polymers or electrochemical dissolution is described together with current applications of these grafts in the clinical arena. Finally, methods to pattern cells in three-dimensions as well as to functionalize the 3D environment with biologic motifs take us one step closer to being able to engineer multicellular tissues and organs.

A versatile bioink for three-dimensional printing of cellular scaffolds based on thermally and photo-triggered tandem gelation.

Layer-by-layer bioprinting is a logical choice for the fabrication of stratified tissues like articular cartilage. Printing of viable organ replacements, however, is dependent on bioinks with appropriate rheological and cytocompatible properties. In cartilage engineering, photocrosslinkable glycosaminoglycan-based hydrogels are chondrogenic, but alone have generally poor printing properties. By blending the thermoresponsive polymer poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) grafted hyaluronan (HA-pNIPAAM) with methacrylated hyaluronan (HAMA), high-resolution scaffolds with good viability were printed. HA-pNIPAAM provided fast gelation and immediate post-printing structural fidelity, while HAMA ensured long-term mechanical stability upon photocrosslinking. The bioink was evaluated for rheological properties, swelling behavior, printability and biocompatibility of encapsulated bovine chondrocytes. Elution of HA-pNIPAAM from the scaffold was necessary to obtain good viability. HA-pNIPAAM can therefore be used to support extrusion of a range of biopolymers which undergo tandem gelation, thereby facilitating the printing of cell-laden, stratified cartilage constructs with zonally varying composition and stiffness.

Artificial Bacterial Flagella for Remote‐Controlled Targeted Single‐Cell Drug Delivery

We hypothesized that ABFs can be functionalized with liposomes, thus allowing these micromachines to per-form biological or biomedical tasks in a remotely con-trolled fashion. To test this hypothesis fl uorescently labeled liposomes and calcein-loaded liposomes were adsorbed on the surface of ABFs. The adsorption of liposomes on the ABFs was confi rmed by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and fl uorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP). The liposome-functionalized ABFs were then placed in contact with cells in vitro and the uptake of calcein (a model water soluble drug) by cells was monitored using fl uorescence microscopy. The fabrication of ABFs was followed as described ear-lier by Tottori et al.

Nanostructured Pluronic hydrogels as bioinks for 3D bioprinting

Bioprinting is an emerging technology in the field of tissue engineering as it allows the precise positioning of biologically relevant materials in 3D, which more resembles the native tissue in our body than current homogenous, bulk approaches. There is however a lack of materials to be used with this technology and materials such as the block copolymer Pluronic have good printing properties but do not allow long-term cell culture. Here we present an approach called nanostructuring to increase the biocompatibility of Pluronic gels at printable concentrations. By mixing acrylated with unmodified Pluronic F127 it was possible to maintain the excellent printing properties of Pluronic and to create stable gels via UV crosslinking. By subsequent elution of the unmodified Pluronic from the crosslinked network we were able to increase the cell viability of encapsulated chondrocytes at day 14 from 62% for a pure acrylated Pluronic hydrogel to 86% for a nanostructured hydrogel. The mixed Pluronic gels also showed good printability when cells where included in the bioink. The nanostructured gels were, with a compressive modulus of 1.42 kPa, mechanically weak, but we were able to increase the mechanical properties by the addition of methacrylated hyaluronic acid. Our nanostructuring approach enables Pluronic hydrogels to have the desired set of properties in all stages of the bioprinting process.

Electrochemical plasmonic sensors

The enormous progress of nanotechnology during the last decade has made it possible to fabricate a great variety of nanostructures. On the nanoscale, metals exhibit special electrical and optical properties, which can be utilized for novel applications. In particular, plasmonic sensors including both the established technique of surface plasmon resonance and more recent nanoplasmonic sensors, have recently attracted much attention. However, some of the simplest and most successful sensors, such as the glucose biosensor, are based on electrical readout. In this review we describe the implementation of electrochemistry with plasmonic nanostructures for combined electrical and optical signal transduction. We highlight results from different types of metallic nanostructures such as nanoparticles, nanowires, nanoholes or simply films of nanoscale thickness. We briefly give an overview of their optical properties and discuss implementation of electrochemical methods. In particular, we review studies on how electrochemical potentials influence the plasmon resonances in different nanostructures, as this type of fundamental understanding is necessary for successful combination of the methods. Although several combined platforms exist, many are not yet in use as sensors partly because of the complicated effects from electrochemical potentials on plasmon resonances. Yet, there are clearly promising aspects of these sensor combinations and we conclude this review by discussing the advantages of synchronized electrical and optical readout, illustrating the versatility of these technologies.

Layer-by-layer films made from extracellular matrix macromolecules on silicone substrates.

The layer-by-layer (LbL) technique has been widely used to produce nanofilms for biomedical applications. Naturally occurring polymers such as ECM macromolecules are attractive candidates for LbL film preparation. In this study, we assessed the build-up of type I collagen (Col1)/chondroitin sulfate (CS) or Col1/Heparin (HN) on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates. The build-up was assessed by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Integrin-mediated cell adhesion was assessed by studying the cytoskeletal organization of mammalian primary cells (chondrocytes) seeded on different end layers and number of layers. Data generated from the QCM-D observations showed a consistent build-up of films with more adsorption in the case of Col1/HN. Col1/CS films were stable in media, whereas Col1/HN films were not. AFM analysis showed that the layers were fibrillar in structure for both systems and between 20 and 30 nm thick. The films promoted cell adhesion when compared with tissue culture plastic in serum-free media with cycloheximide. Crosslinking of the films resulted in constrained cell spreading and a ruffled morphology. Finally, beta1 integrin blocking antibodies prevented cell spreading, suggesting that cell adhesion and spreading were mediated mainly by interaction with the collagen fibrils. The ability to construct stable ECM-based films on PDMS has particular relevance in mechanobiology, microfluidics, and other biomedical applications.

Alginate Sulfate–Nanocellulose Bioinks for Cartilage Bioprinting Applications

One of the challenges of bioprinting is to identify bioinks which support cell growth, tissue maturation, and ultimately the formation of functional grafts for use in regenerative medicine. The influence of this new biofabrication technology on biology of living cells, however, is still being evaluated. Recently we have identified a mitogenic hydrogel system based on alginate sulfate which potently supports chondrocyte phenotype, but is not printable due to its rheological properties (no yield point). To convert alginate sulfate to a printable bioink, it was combined with nanocellulose, which has been shown to possess very good printability. The alginate sulfate/nanocellulose ink showed good printing properties and the non-printed bioink material promoted cell spreading, proliferation, and collagen II synthesis by the encapsulated cells. When the bioink was printed, the biological performance of the cells was highly dependent on the nozzle geometry. Cell spreading properties were maintained with the lowest extrusion pressure and shear stress. However, extruding the alginate sulfate/nanocellulose bioink and chondrocytes significantly compromised cell proliferation, particularly when using small diameter nozzles and valves.

Electrochemically switchable platform for the micro-patterning and release of heterotypic cell sheets

This article describes a dynamic platform in which the biointerfacial properties of micro-patterned domains can be switched electrochemically through the spatio-temporally controlled dissolution and adsorption of polyelectrolyte coatings. Insulating SU-8 micro-patterns created on a transparent indium tin oxide electrode by photolithography allowed for the local control over the electrochemical dissolution of polyelectrolyte mono- and multilayers, with polyelectrolytes shielded from the electrochemical treatment by the underlying photoresist stencil. The platform allowed for the creation of micro-patterned cell co-cultures through the electrochemical removal of a non-fouling polyelectrolyte coating and the localized adsorption of a cell adhesive one after attachment of the first cell population. In addition, the use of weak adhesive polyelectrolyte coatings on the photoresist domains allowed for the detachment of a contiguous heterotypic cell sheet upon electrochemical trigger. Cells grown on the ITO domains peeled off upon electrochemical dissolution of the sacrificial polyelectrolyte substrate, whereas adjacent cell areas on the insulated weakly adhesive substrate easily detached through the contractile force generated by neighboring cells. This electrochemical strategy for the micro-patterning and detachment of heterotypic cell sheets combines simplicity, precision and versatility, and presents great prospects for the creation of cellular constructs which mimic the cellular complexity of native tissues.

Disentangling the multifactorial contributions of fibronectin, collagen and cyclic strain on MMP expression and extracellular matrix remodeling by fibroblasts

Early wound healing is associated with fibroblasts assembling a provisional fibronectin-rich extracellular matrix (ECM), which is subsequently remodeled and interlaced by type I collagen. This exposes fibroblasts to time-variant sets of matrices during different stages of wound healing. Our goal was thus to gain insight into the ECM-driven functional regulation of human foreskin fibroblasts (HFFs) being either anchored to a fibronectin (Fn) or to a collagen-decorated matrix, in the absence or presence of cyclic mechanical strain. While the cells reoriented in response to the onset of uniaxial cyclic strain, cells assembled exogenously added Fn with a preferential Fn-fiber alignment along their new orientation. Exposure of HFFs to exogenous Fn resulted in an increase in matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression levels, i.e. MMP-15 (RT-qPCR), and MMP-9 activity (zymography), while subsequent exposure to collagen slightly reduced MMP-15 expression and MMP-9 activity compared to Fn-exposure alone. Cyclic strain upregulated Fn fibrillogenesis and actin stress fiber formation, but had comparatively little effect on MMP activity. We thus propose that the appearance of collagen might start to steer HFFs towards homeostasis, as it decreased both MMP secretion and the tension of Fn matrix fibrils as assessed by Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer. These results suggest that HFFs might have a high ECM remodeling or repair capacity in contact with Fn alone (early event), which is reduced in the presence of Col1 (later event), thereby down-tuning HFF activity, a processes which would be required in a tissue repair process to finally reach tissue homeostasis.

Printing thermoresponsive reverse molds for the creation of patterned two-component hydrogels for 3D cell culture.

Bioprinting is an emerging technology that has its origins in the rapid prototyping industry. The different printing processes can be divided into contact bioprinting(1-4) (extrusion, dip pen and soft lithography), contactless bioprinting(5-7) (laser forward transfer, ink-jet deposition) and laser based techniques such as two photon photopolymerization(8). It can be used for many applications such as tissue engineering(9-13), biosensor microfabrication(14-16) and as a tool to answer basic biological questions such as influences of co-culturing of different cell types(17). Unlike common photolithographic or soft-lithographic methods, extrusion bioprinting has the advantage that it does not require a separate mask or stamp. Using CAD software, the design of the structure can quickly be changed and adjusted according to the requirements of the operator. This makes bioprinting more flexible than lithography-based approaches. Here we demonstrate the printing of a sacrificial mold to create a multi-material 3D structure using an array of pillars within a hydrogel as an example. These pillars could represent hollow structures for a vascular network or the tubes within a nerve guide conduit. The material chosen for the sacrificial mold was poloxamer 407, a thermoresponsive polymer with excellent printing properties which is liquid at 4 °C and a solid above its gelation temperature ~20 °C for 24.5% w/v solutions(18). This property allows the poloxamer-based sacrificial mold to be eluted on demand and has advantages over the slow dissolution of a solid material especially for narrow geometries. Poloxamer was printed on microscope glass slides to create the sacrificial mold. Agarose was pipetted into the mold and cooled until gelation. After elution of the poloxamer in ice cold water, the voids in the agarose mold were filled with alginate methacrylate spiked with FITC labeled fibrinogen. The filled voids were then cross-linked with UV and the construct was imaged with an epi-fluorescence microscope.