Microwell Chips for Selection of Bio‐macromolecules that Increase the Differentiation Capacities of Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Abstract

Microwell chips (25 mm × 25 mm) are fabricated to select proper substrates for growing three-dimensional (3D) spheroids from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Different bio-macromolecules and their combinations are immobilized on the chip by air plasma treatment and by polyelectrolyte interaction. Only a small number of MSCs (≈10(5) ) are needed for each chip. The expression level of N-cadherin, a cell-adhesion molecule, is used as an indicator for cell-cell interactions. MSC spheroids expressing the highest N-cadherin level also show the greatest osteogenic potential. The microwell chip may be used as an efficient platform to screen bio-macromolecules that enhance the differentiation potential of MSCs.

Enhancement of anti-inflammatory and anti-tumorigenic properties of 3D-spheroid formed mesenchymal stem cells derived from rheumatoid arthritis joints

“…The 3D-spheroid formation of MSCs by aggregation is one of the useful methods to enhance the valuable therapeutic potential in terms of enhancement of stemness, immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory properties, and chemotaxis for homing (Jauković et al, 2020). Many different methods have been reported for preparing MSC spheroids, including hanging drop (Huang et al, 2020), concave micro-well aggregation (Hsu et al, 2013;Lee et al, 2016) and gravity circulation (Imura et al, 2018) methods. The expression levels of OCT4 and SOX2 were increased in 3D-shperoid formed RA-hMSC groups and…”