Affiliations 

  • 1 a MOE Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering , School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an , China
  • 2 c Department of Biomedical Engineering , Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia , and
  • 3 b Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC), Xi'an Jiaotong University , Xi'an , China
Crit Rev Biotechnol, 2016 Jun;36(3):553-65.
PMID: 25641330 DOI: 10.3109/07388551.2014.993588

Abstract

Natural cellular microenvironment consists of spatiotemporal gradients of multiple physical (e.g. extracellular matrix stiffness, porosity and stress/strain) and chemical cues (e.g. morphogens), which play important roles in regulating cell behaviors including spreading, proliferation, migration, differentiation and apoptosis, especially for pathological processes such as tumor formation and progression. Therefore, it is essential to engineer cellular gradient microenvironment incorporating various gradients for the fabrication of normal and pathological tissue models in vitro. In this article, we firstly review the development of engineering cellular physical and chemical gradients with cytocompatible hydrogels in both two-dimension and three-dimension formats. We then present current advances in the application of engineered gradient microenvironments for the fabrication of disease models in vitro. Finally, concluding remarks and future perspectives for engineering cellular gradients are given.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.