Cytocompatible Hydrogel Composed of Phospholipid Polymers for Regulation of Cell Functions - Polymers in Nanomedicine - page 141

The PMBV/PVA hydrogel was dissociated by an exchange reaction with low molec-
ular weight diol compounds such as D- fructose, which have high binding affinity to the
phenylboronic acid unit. Cells were encapsulated easily in the PMBV/PVA hydrogel,
and the cells in the hydrogel kept their original morphology and slightly proliferated
during the preservation period. After dissociation of the hydrogel, the cells could be
recovered as a cell suspension and cultured under conventional cell culture conditions
as usual. Embryonic stem cells could be encapsulated without any adverse effects
from the polymer hydrogel, i.e., the cells maintained their undifferentiated character
during preservation in the PMBV/PVA hydrogel. Cell preservation and activity in the
hydrogel were also investigated using microfluidic chips. The results clearly indicated
that the PMBV/PVA hydrogels provide a useful platform for 3D encapsulation of cell
culture systems without any reduction of their bioactivity.

Keywords Cell encapsulation Cell engineering Cytocompatibility Hydrogel

Phospholipid polymers

Contents
1 Polymer Hydrogels in Cell Engineering and Tissue Engineering . . ...................... 142
2 Spontaneously Forming Reversible Hydrogels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
3 Cytocompatible Polymer Hydrogels Composed
of Water-Soluble Phospholipid Polymers .................................................. 147
3.1 Polymer Design and Fundamental Properties ....................................... 147
4 Cells in PMBV/PVA Hydrogels . . ......................................................... 151
4.1 Encapsulation Technique ............................................................. 151
4.2 Morphology of Cells in the Hydrogels .............................................. 152
4.3 Proliferation of Encapsulated Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
4.4 Control of Cell Cycle in the Hydrogel ............................................... 153
5 Cell Functions in the PMBV/PVA Hydrogel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
6 Gene Expression of Cells Encapsulated in PMBV/PVA Hydrogel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
7 Encapsulation of Stem Cells and Their Undifferentiated Character . ..................... 156
8 Cell-Based Biochips Fabricated Using a PMBV/PVA Hydrogel . . ....................... 157
8.1 Microfluidics for Miniaturized Cell Operation ...................................... 157
8.2 Fabrication and Operation of Cell-Based Biochips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
8.3 Long-Term Viability of Cells in the Cell-Based Chip .............................. 158
8.4 Cytotoxicity Assay in the Cell-Based Chip .......................................... 160
9 Conclusion and Future Perspectives ....................................................... 162
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

1 Polymer Hydrogels in Cell Engineering and Tissue
Engineering

Cell engineering and tissue engineering has made progress because of recent
developments not only in biotechnology and molecular biology, but also in bio-
materials engineering [ 1 - 5 ]. From these two fields will develop a new medical area,
i.e., regenerative medicine. Synthetic and natural polymer materials can be applied
as scaffolds and nanoparticles in a wide range of cell and tissue engineering
applications [ 6 , 7 ].