Exploring compartmentalized jet polymerization for novel rod-shaped microgels and their potential in tissue engineering applications

Biomaterials, vol. 328, pp. 123866

Abstract

Anisometric rod-shaped microgels are promising building blocks for tissue engineering, offering injectability, porosity, macroscopic anisotropy, and biochemical functionality-key features for directing cell adhesion, growth, alignment, and interaction. The continuous production of thin or highly porous elongated microgels is therefore desirable, preferably offering control over their stiffness, size, and aspect ratio. We present advancements in compartmentalized jet polymerization, a microfluidic technique that generates microgels that are ten times narrower than the channel width by forming a polymer jet and crosslinking alternating segments with a pulsed laser. Originally limited to diameters of ∼8 μm, we have now refined the method to produce microgels as small as ∼3 μm. Additionally, we developed ultra-soft and ultra-porous microgels that swell to diameters of 50-120 μm with pore sizes in the range 2-5 μm. While the thin soft microgels can be employed in our Anisogel technology to combine injectability with magnetic alignment, the ultra-porous microgels would increase diffusion in our microporous annealed particle (MAP) scaffolds made from rod-shaped microgels. This paper focuses on the continuous production and characterization of rod microgels with properties that cannot be achieve with other methods. Furthermore, we report initial results of the microgels' potential and challenges to be used inside an Anisogel, which was so far only possible with stiffer magneto-responsive microgels produced by an in-mold polymerization batch process, and to form MAPs by cell-induced assembly of the ultra-porous rods. Further studies will be required to fully exploit the potential of these unique microgels for tissue engineering applications.

Authors 12

1. Ninon Möhl Aachen Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials Institute of Applied Medical Engineering Department of Advanced Materials for Biomedicine

   DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany; DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, 52074, Aachen, Germany; Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Department of Advanced Materials for Biomedicine, RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany

2. Susan Babu Aachen Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials

   DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials · Max Planck School Matter to Life · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany; DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, 52074, Aachen, Germany; Max Planck School - Matter to Life (MtL), Jahnstraße 29, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

3. Camille Bonhomme Aachen DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials

   DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials

   Affiliation as printed

   DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, 52074, Aachen, Germany

4. Ramin Nasehi Aachen Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials

   DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany; DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, 52074, Aachen, Germany

5. Matthias Mork Aachen Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials

   DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany; DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, 52074, Aachen, Germany

6. Tamás Haraszti Aachen Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials

   DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany; DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, 52074, Aachen, Germany

7. Gilles E. Wittmann

   Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum · Technical University of Munich

   Affiliation as printed

   Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Technical University of Munich, Lichtenbergstr. 1, Garching, 85748, Germany

8. Baohu Wu

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum

   Affiliation as printed

   Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at MLZ, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Garching, Germany

9. Rostislav A. Vinokur Aachen DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials

   DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials

   Affiliation as printed

   DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, 52074, Aachen, Germany

10. Kyoohyun Kim

    Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light

    Affiliation as printed

    Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light and Max-Planck-Zentrum für Physik und Medizin, Staudtstraße 2, 91058, Erlangen, Germany

11. Rafael Kramann Aachen Department of Medicine 2 (Nephrology Clinical Immunology

    Erasmus MC · RWTH Aachen University

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Medicine 2 (Nephrology, Rheumatology, Clinical Immunology, Hypertension), RWTH Aachen University Faculty, Aachen, Germany; Department of Internal Medicine, Nephrology, Transplantation, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands

12. Laura De Laporte corresponding Aachen Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials Institute of Applied Medical Engineering Department of Advanced Materials for Biomedicine

    DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials · Max Planck School Matter to Life · RWTH Aachen University

    Affiliation as printed

    Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany; DWI - Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials, 52074, Aachen, Germany; Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Department of Advanced Materials for Biomedicine, RWTH Aachen University, 52074, Aachen, Germany; Max Planck School - Matter to Life (MtL), Jahnstraße 29, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany. Electronic address: delaporte@dwi.rwth-aachen.de