A rapid co-culture stamping device for studying intercellular communication

Abstract

Regulation of tissue development and repair depends on communication between neighbouring cells. Recent advances in cell micro-contact printing and microfluidics have facilitated the in-vitro study of homotypic and heterotypic cell-cell interaction. Nonetheless, these techniques are still complicated to perform and as a result, are seldom used by biologists. We report here development of a temporarily sealed microfluidic stamping device which utilizes a novel valve design for patterning two adherent cell lines with well-defined interlacing configurations to study cell-cell interactions. We demonstrate post-stamping cell viability of >95%, the stamping of multiple adherent cell types, and the ability to control the seeded cell density. We also show viability, proliferation and migration of cultured cells, enabling analysis of co-culture boundary conditions on cell fate. We also developed an in-vitro model of endothelial and cardiac stem cell interactions, which are thought to regulate coronary repair after myocardial injury. The stamp is fabricated using microfabrication techniques, is operated with a lab pipettor and uses very low reagent volumes of 20 μl with cell injection efficiency of >70%. This easy-to-use device provides a general strategy for micro-patterning of multiple cell types and will be important for studying cell-cell interactions in a multitude of applications.

Biomimicking Fiber Scaffold as an Effective In Vitro and In Vivo MicroRNA Screening Platform for Directing Tissue Regeneration

“…[16][17][18] However, hydrogels are often isotropic in architecture and hence lack the ability to direct tissue regrowth. [22][23][24][25] Consequently, the development of effective miR therapeutics, particularly targeting tissue regeneration, remains slow. [22][23][24][25] Consequently, the development of effective miR therapeutics, particularly targeting tissue regeneration, remains slow.…”

Polydopamine‐collagen complex to enhance the biocompatibility of polydimethylsiloxane substrates for sustaining long‐term culture of L929 fibroblasts and tendon stem cells

“…The L929 cell line originates from the mammal fibroblasts and has been broadly investigated in many studies, attributed to its differentiation potency into osteoblasts and adipocytes under specific inductions . As another important cell type for tissue engineering, tendon stem cells (TSCs) are derived from tendon interstitial tissue and able to accelerate tendon healing and regeneration .…”

Electrophysiology of hiPSC-Cardiomyocytes Co-Cultured with HEK Cells Expressing the Inward Rectifier Channel

“…There is precedent for the use of a co-culture of two cell lines in order to influence the overall electrophysiological behavior of the syncytium [ 19 , 20 ]. This technique has the potential to introduce ionic conductance into the syncytium in a controlled manner, as the relative number of cells can be easily controlled.…”