Engineered Microvessel for Cell Culture in Simulated Microgravity

As the number of manned space flights increase, studies on the effects of microgravity on the human body are becoming more important. Due to the high expense and complexity of sending samples into space, simulated microgravity platforms have become a popular way to study these effects on earth. In a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of molecular sciences 2021-06, Vol.22 (12), p.6331
Main Authors: ElGindi, Mei, Ibrahim, Ibrahim Hamed, Sapudom, Jiranuwat, Garcia-Sabate, Anna, Teo, Jeremy C.M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biocompatibility
Biomedical materials
Castability
Cell culture
cell culture microvessel
Cell differentiation
Cell viability
Culture media
Cytokines
Design
Differentiation (biology)
Experiments
Gas exchange
Gravitational effects
Hypoxia
Immunology
Phenols
Polydimethylsiloxane
Polylactic acid
random positioning machine
Regenerative medicine
simulated microgravity
Simulation
space biology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:As the number of manned space flights increase, studies on the effects of microgravity on the human body are becoming more important. Due to the high expense and complexity of sending samples into space, simulated microgravity platforms have become a popular way to study these effects on earth. In addition, simulated microgravity has recently drawn the attention of regenerative medicine by increasing cell differentiation capability. These platforms come with many advantages as well as limitations. A main limitation for usage of these platforms is the lack of high-throughput capability due to the use of large cell culture vessels. Therefore, there is a requirement for microvessels for microgravity platforms that limit waste and increase throughput. In this work, a microvessel for commercial cell culture plates was designed. Four 3D printable (polycarbonate (PC), polylactic acid (PLA) and resin) and castable (polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)) materials were assessed for biocompatibility with adherent and suspension cell types. PDMS was found to be the most suitable material for microvessel fabrication, long-term cell viability and proliferation. It also allows for efficient gas exchange, has no effect on cell culture media pH and does not induce hypoxic conditions. Overall, the designed microvessel can be used on simulated microgravity platforms as a method for long-term high-throughput biomedical studies.
ISSN:1422-0067
1661-6596
1422-0067
DOI:10.3390/ijms22126331