Porous microgels for fabricating granular hydrogel scaffolds with hierarchical porosity to improve cell invasion
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Kedzierski, Alexander
- Area of Honors:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Amir Sheikhi, Thesis Supervisor
Justin Lee Brown, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Keywords: cell infiltration
porous scaffolds
microgels
biomaterials
phase separation
Cell infiltration
Porous scaffolds
Microgels
Biomaterials
Phase Separation - Abstract:
- The successful application of hydrogels as acellular matrices for endogenous tissue repair necessitates the infiltration and presence of host cells and blood vessels within the scaffold, creating an environment conducive to regeneration. Granular hydrogel scaffolds (GHS), characterized by inherent cell-scale porosity resulting from interstitial void spaces between hydrogel microparticles (microgels), facilitate cell infiltration and host tissue integration. However, the prevalent use of spherical microgels in GHS preparation hinders the adjustment of interstitial void volume fraction independently of microgel diameter, potentially limiting scaffold porosity and cell infiltration. Here, we developed porous spherical microgels, via thermally induced phase separation, and assembled them to form GHS, providing porosity at both inter and intraparticle levels. Pore characterization of GHS revealed a significant increase in void spaces when porous microgels were used in the construct, as opposed to nonporous microgels. In vitro studies confirmed cell infiltration into porous microgels, with a higher cell volume observed in microgels with larger pores. In vivo, scaffolds incorporating porous microgels showed significantly higher cell infiltration, including endothelial cells, compared with their nonporous counterparts. These results underscore the significance of void fraction in cell infiltration, thus contributing to successful host tissue integration. Additionally, they highlight the potential of porous microgels for various applications in tissue engineering and regeneration. Keywords: cell infiltration, porous scaffolds, microgels, biomaterials, phase separation