Hydrogel synthesis for liver tissue engineering

• Main Author: Lai, Joon Kit
• Other Authors: Lee Bae Hoon
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Materials
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/62481
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Many studies have associated poor cells functionality to 2-dimensional (2D) culture which does not adequately mimic the microenvironment of 3D native tissue. To address these challenges, Poly(ethylene glycol) Diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogel was prepared by attaching acrylate side groups to PEG. Subsequently, the PEGDA hydrogel was allowed to take up the structure set by Inverted Colloidal Crystals (ICCs) mold to form an interconnected 3D scaffold. Hydrogels prepared from Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) are increasingly seen as a promising platform for scaffold material due to its biocompatibility, ease of modification through different chemistry and potential for hydrogel fabrication into 3D culture. It was hypothesized that this interconnected 3D PEGDA scaffold could be altered to mimic a broad range of stiffness, porosity and interconnectivity in order to streamline the best conditions to support liver cells culture. The influence of PEG precursor molecular weight (700, 4600 and 8000 Da) and PEGDA concentration (30, 40, 50%) on the scaffold stiffness were assessed through stiffness and swelling test. The findings showed that stiffness of the scaffold was enhanced by decreasing the molecular weight or increasing the concentration of the precursors. In contrast, the porosity of scaffold, represented by the size of the cavity and interconnected pores, decreased with the decreasing in molecular weight. These findings concluded that controllability of the PEGDA ICC scaffold stiffness and porosity can been achieved by altering molecular weight of their PEG precursor or concentration of PEGDA. This controllability will permit further studies to be done by balancing the stiffness and porosity requirements for successful 3D culture of liver cells.