Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) printing of microfluidic devices continuously replaces conventional fabrication methods. A versatile tool for achieving microscopic feature sizes and short process times is micro-stereolithography (µSL). However, common resins for µSL lack biocompatibility and are cytotoxic. This work focuses on developing new photo-curable resins as a basis for µSL fabrication of polymer materials and surfaces for cell culture. Different acrylate- and methacrylate-based compositions are screened for material characteristics including wettability, surface roughness, and swelling behavior. For further understanding, the impact of photo-absorber and photo-initiator on the cytotoxicity of 3D-printed substrates is studied. Cell culture experiments with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in standard polystyrene vessels are compared to 3D-printed parts made from our library of homemade resins. Among these, after optimizing material composition and post-processing, we identify selected mixtures of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ethyl methacrylate (PEGMEMA) as most suitable to allow for fabricating cell culture platforms that retain both the viability and proliferation of HUVECs. Next, our PEGDA/PEGMEMA resins will be further optimized regarding minimal feature size and cell adhesion to fabricate microscopic (microfluidic) cell culture platforms, e.g., for studying vascularization of HUVECs in vitro.
Highlights
Microfluidics is a versatile tool to confine fluids in microscopic channel networks and to control flow pattern formation therein
After optimizing material composition and post-processing, we identify selected mixtures of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) and poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ethyl methacrylate (PEGMEMA) as most suitable to allow for fabricating cell culture platforms that retain both the viability and proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs)
We introduce a library of homemade resins based on poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMEMA), tri(propylene glycol) diacrylate (TPGDA), and 2-phenoxyethyl acrylate (POEA) for fabricating biocompatible 3D-printed polymer materials
Summary
Microfluidics is a versatile tool to confine fluids in microscopic channel networks and to control flow pattern formation therein. As conventional PDMS-based microfluidic devices have been designed to serve as blood or single-cell analysis platforms as well as biomedical devices early on, it is crucial to ensure bio- and cytocompatibility as well as non-genotoxicity of newly designed resins to implement a similar level of applicability and versatility in μSL-based 3D printing of microfluidics Along these lines, several research groups have looked into the biocompatibility of resins in their studies, e.g., for seeding human mesenchymal stem cells in manufactured scaffolds using a μSL system [15]. Folch et al used commercially available WaterShed resin coated with Matrigel to cultivate C2C12 myoblast cells on it [16], and in another example, poly-l-lysine was coated onto μSL-printed resin surfaces to improve cell attachment [17] In this context, we introduce a library of homemade resins based on poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMEMA), tri(propylene glycol) diacrylate (TPGDA), and 2-phenoxyethyl acrylate (POEA) for fabricating biocompatible 3D-printed polymer materials. This work contributes to the design of cytocompatible polymer materials by μSL utilizing homemade resins, and to the future fabrication of microfluidic devices for biosciences by high-resolution 3D printing
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