Microfluidic wet spinning of chitosan-alginate microfibers and encapsulation of HepG2 cells in fibers

Bo Ram Lee, Kwang Ho Lee, Edward Kang, Dong Sik Kim, Sang Hoon Lee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

104 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The successful encapsulation of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells would greatly assist a broad range of applications in tissue engineering. Due to the harsh conditions during standard chitosan fiber fabrication processes, encapsulation of HepG2 cells in chitosan fibers has been challenging. Here, we describe the successful wet-spinning of chitosan-alginate fibers using a coaxial flow microfluidic chip. We determined the optimal mixing conditions for generating chitosan-alginate fibers, including a 1:5 ratio of 2% (w/w) water-soluble chitosan (WSC) solution to 2% (w/w) alginate solution. Ratio including higher than 2% (w/w) WSC solution increased aggregation throughout the mixture. By suspending cells in the WSC-alginate solution, we successfully fabricated HepG2 cell-laden fibers. The encapsulated HepG2 cells in the chitosan-alginate fibers were more viable than cells encapsulated in pure alginate fibers, suggesting that cross-linked chitosan provides a better environment for HepG2 cells than alginate alone. In addition, we found that the adhesion of HepG2 cells on the chitosan-alginate fiber is much better than that on the alginate fibers.

Original languageEnglish
Article number022208
JournalBiomicrofluidics
Volume5
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2011 Apr 1

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Materials Science(all)
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes
  • Colloid and Surface Chemistry

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