Role of Surfactant during Microemulsion Photopolymerization for the Creation of Three-Dimensional Liquid Crystal Elastomer Microsphere Spatial Cell Scaffolds

Bera, Tanmay; Malcuit, Christopher; Clements, Robert J.; Hegmann, Elda

doi:10.3389/fmats.2016.00031

Cited by 12 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Recent research has shown that the orientational ordering of nematic LCs can influence cell attachment and proliferation . Previous work from our group has shown that both nematic and smectic biodegradable, biocompatible and porous LCEs with “Swiss‐cheese” like morphology, 3D channel or foam‐like as well as globular morphology are viable candidates for active cell scaffolds that support the attachment and proliferation of cells, further expanding possibilities toward tissue regeneration …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Structural Variations on the Cellular Response and Mechanical Properties of Biocompatible, Biodegradable, and Porous Smectic Liquid Crystal Elastomers

et al. 2016

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The authors report on series of side-chain smectic liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) cell scaffolds based on star block-copolymers featuring 3-arm, 4-arm, and 6-arm central nodes. A particular focus of these studies is placed on the mechanical properties of these LCEs and their impact on cell response. The introduction of diverse central nodes allows to alter and custom-modify the mechanical properties of LCE scaffolds to values on the same order of magnitude of various tissues of interest. In addition, it is continued to vary the position of the LC pendant group. The central node and the position of cholesterol pendants in the backbone of ε-CL blocks (alpha and gamma series) affect the mechanical properties as well as cell proliferation and particularly cell alignment. Cell directionality tests are presented demonstrating that several LCE scaffolds show cell attachment, proliferation, narrow orientational dispersion of cells, and highly anisotropic cell growth on the as-synthesized LCE materials.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Structural Variations on the Cellular Response and Mechanical Properties of Biocompatible, Biodegradable, and Porous Smectic Liquid Crystal Elastomers

et al. 2016

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“…Additionally, porous architectures can be created by forming an emulsion, i.e., mixing a solution of LCE with water. We succeeded in making a microemulsion photopolymerization resulting in nematic LCE microspheres (10−30 μm) [ 71 , 72 ].…”

Section: Toward Biological Applications Of Lcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Liquid Crystal Elastomers—A Path to Biocompatible and Biodegradable 3D-LCE Scaffolds for Tissue Regeneration

2018

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The development of appropriate materials that can make breakthroughs in tissue engineering has long been pursued by the scientific community. Several types of material have been long tested and re-designed for this purpose. At the same time, liquid crystals (LCs) have captivated the scientific community since their discovery in 1888 and soon after were thought to be, in combination with polymers, artificial muscles. Within the past decade liquid crystal elastomers (LCE) have been attracting increasing interest for their use as smart advanced materials for biological applications. Here, we examine how LCEs can potentially be used as dynamic substrates for culturing cells, moving away from the classical two-dimensional cell-culture nature. We also briefly discuss the integration of a few technologies for the preparation of more sophisticated LCE-composite scaffolds for more dynamic biomaterials. The anisotropic properties of LCEs can be used not only to promote cell attachment and the proliferation of cells, but also to promote cell alignment under LCE-stimulated deformation. 3D LCEs are ideal materials for new insights to simulate and study the development of tissues and the complex interplay between cells.

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“…We have previously reported the preparation of smectic biocompatible, biodegradable, cast-molded, and thin LCEs films featuring a "Swisscheese type" porous morphology 6,18 . We also prepared nematic biocompatible LCEs with globular morphology as scaffolds for cell growth 19,20 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We then reported on biocompatible nematic LCE elastomers with globular morphologies. These nematic elastomers allowed for the attachment and proliferation of cells, but the pore size ranged only from 10-30 µm, which prevented or limited the use of these elastomers with a wider variety of cell lines 19,20 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthesis of Biocompatible Liquid Crystal Elastomer Foams as Cell Scaffolds for 3D Spatial Cell Cultures

Prévôt

Üstünel

Bergquist

et al. 2017

JoVE

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Here, we present a step-by-step preparation of a 3D, biodegradable, foam-like cell scaffold. These scaffolds were prepared by cross-linking star block co-polymers featuring cholesterol units as side-chain pendant groups, resulting in smectic-A (SmA) liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs). Foam-like scaffolds, prepared using metal templates, feature interconnected microchannels, making them suitable as 3D cell culture scaffolds. The combined properties of the regular structure of the metal foam and of the elastomer result in a 3D cell scaffold that promotes not only higher cell proliferation compared to conventional porous templated films, but also better management of mass transport (i.e., nutrients, gases, waste, etc.). The nature of the metal template allows for the easy manipulation of foam shapes (i.e., rolls or films) and for the preparation of scaffolds of different pore sizes for different cell studies while preserving the interconnected porous nature of the template. The etching process does not affect the chemistry of the elastomers, preserving their biocompatible and biodegradable nature. We show that these smectic LCEs, when grown for extensive time periods, enable the study of clinically relevant and complex tissue constructs while promoting the growth and proliferation of cells.

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Role of Surfactant during Microemulsion Photopolymerization for the Creation of Three-Dimensional Liquid Crystal Elastomer Microsphere Spatial Cell Scaffolds

Cited by 12 publications

References 42 publications

Effects of Structural Variations on the Cellular Response and Mechanical Properties of Biocompatible, Biodegradable, and Porous Smectic Liquid Crystal Elastomers

Effects of Structural Variations on the Cellular Response and Mechanical Properties of Biocompatible, Biodegradable, and Porous Smectic Liquid Crystal Elastomers

Liquid Crystal Elastomers—A Path to Biocompatible and Biodegradable 3D-LCE Scaffolds for Tissue Regeneration

Synthesis of Biocompatible Liquid Crystal Elastomer Foams as Cell Scaffolds for 3D Spatial Cell Cultures

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