Abstract
The Rosalind Franklin Society (RFS), in partnership with Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers, enthusiastically congratulate our distinguished recipient of the 2023 annual
Henry T. Beaman and Mary Beth B. Monroe, “Highly Porous Gas-Blown Hydrogels for Direct Cell Encapsulation with High Cell Viability,” Tissue Engineering Part A 29, no. 11-12 (June 2023): 308–321, https://doi.org/10.1089/ten.tea.2022.0192.
Abstract
Cell transplant therapies show potential as treatments for a large number of diseases. The encapsulation of cells within hydrogels is often used to mimic the extracellular matrix and protect cells from the body's immune response. However, cell encapsulation can be limited in terms of both scaffold size and cell viability due to poor nutrient and waste transport throughout the bulk of larger volume hydrogels. Strategies to address this issue include creating prevascularized or porous structured materials. For example, cell-laden hydrogels can be formed by porogen leaching or three-dimensional printing, but these techniques involve the use of multiple materials, long preparation times, and/or specialized equipment. Postfabrication cell seeding in porous scaffolds can result in inconsistent cell density throughout scaffold volumes and typically requires a bioreactor to ensure even cell distribution. In this study, we developed a highly cytocompatible direct cell encapsulation method during the rapid fabrication of porous hydrogels. Using sodium bicarbonate and citric acid as blowing agents, we employed photocurable polymers to produce highly porous materials within a matter of minutes. Cells were directly encapsulated within methacrylated poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(ethylene glycol), and gelatin hydrogels at viabilities as high as 93% by controlling solution variables, such as citric acid content, viscosity, pH, and curing time. Cell viability within the resulting porous constructs was high (>80%) over 14 days of analysis with multiple cell types. This work provides a simple, versatile, and tunable method for cell encapsulation within highly porous constructs that can be built upon in future work for the delivery of cell-based therapies.
Impact Statement
This simple method to obtain cell-laden hydrogel foams allows direct cell encapsulation within biomaterials without the need for porogens or microcarriers, while maintaining high cell viability. The successful encapsulation of multiple cell types into gas-blown hydrogels with varied chemistries shows the versatility of this method. While this work focuses on photocrosslinkable polymers, any quick gelling material could be used for foam fabrication in expansion of this work. The potential future impact of this work on the treatment of diseases and injuries that utilize cell therapies is wide-ranging.
Biosketch
Mary Beth Monroe, PhD, joined the Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering and the Syracuse BioInspired Institute at Syracuse University in August 2018. She received her B.S. in Engineering Science from Trinity University in 2009 and her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Texas A&M University in 2013. Her dissertation research on tissue engineered vascular grafts was recognized by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and the PEO Scholar Award. Dr. Monroe conducted postdoctoral research on protein engineering for wound healing at the Texas A&M Health Science Center in Houston, Texas, which was supported by the NIH National Research Service Postdoctoral Award. Prior to joining Syracuse University, Dr. Monroe served as a laboratory manager and research scientist in the Biomedical Device Lab at Texas A&M, where she worked on shape memory polymer-based medical devices. Her current research on using smart materials to improve wound healing is supported by a talented team of undergraduate and graduate student researchers and has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Defense, and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation.