Coaxing single stem cells into specialized cells
New gel deposition technique
Date:
September 4, 2020
Source:
University of Illinois at Chicago
Summary:
Researchers have developed a unique method for precisely controlling
the deposition of hydrogel, which is made of water-soluble polymers
commonly used to support cells in experiments or for therapeutic
purposes. The researchers noticed that their technique - which
allows for the encapsulation of a single cell within a minute
hydrogel droplet - can be used to coax bone marrow stem cells into
specialized cells.
FULL STORY ========================================================================== Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago have developed a unique method for precisely controlling the deposition of hydrogel, which is made
of water-soluble polymers commonly used to support cells in experiments
or for therapeutic purposes. Hydrogel mimics the extracellular matrix --
the natural environment of cells in the body.
==========================================================================
The researchers noticed that their technique -- which allows for the encapsulation of a single cell within a minute hydrogel droplet --
can be used to coax bone marrow stem cells into specialized cells.
Their findings are reported in the journal Advanced Science.
The new technique is an improvement over existing approaches that often
mix much larger amounts of hydrogel with cells in an uncontrolled manner,
which can make interactions between cells and their surroundings difficult
to study. The new hydrogel deposition technique may also be useful for therapeutic purposes, such as for supporting stem cells used to create
new tissues.
"Most experiments use a very high amount of hydrogels to interface with
cells, which may not reflect what is happening in the body," said UIC's
Jae-Won Shin, assistant professor of pharmacology and regenerative
medicine at the College of Medicine, and assistant professor of
bioengineering at the College of Engineering, and corresponding author
on the paper.
According to Shin, the team's deposition technique brings the ratio
between hydrogels and cells in-line with what is seen in the body,
and importantly, precisely controls the ratio on a single cell basis.
Shin and colleagues also observed that stem cells in thinner gel droplets expanded more rapidly than they did in bulk gels.
"We observed that stem cells expand several orders of magnitude faster
in thin gel droplets, and so they experience more tension than they do in
bulk gels made of the same material," said Sing Wan Wong, a postdoctoral
fellow in Shin's lab and first author on the study. "We believe this
tension encourages stem cells in thin gel coatings to more readily become
bone cells, compared to stem cells in bulk gels." The team believes
the thin hydrogel deposition technique may help in the production of
bone tissue from stem cells to use as regenerative therapeutics.
Stephen Lenzini, Raymond Bargi, Celine Macaraniag, James C. Lee and
Zhangli Peng of UIC and Zhe Feng of the University of Notre Dame are
co-authors on the paper.
This research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of
Health (R01HL141255, R00HL125884) and the National Science Foundation (1948347-CBET).
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_Illinois_at_Chicago. Note: Content may be edited for style
and length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Sing Wan Wong, Stephen Lenzini, Raymond Bargi, Zhe Feng, Celine
Macaraniag, James C. Lee, Zhangli Peng, Jae‐Won
Shin. Controlled Deposition of 3D Matrices to Direct
Single Cell Functions. Advanced Science, 2020; 2001066 DOI:
10.1002/advs.202001066 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200904092932.htm
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