MANUFACTURE AND USES OF REACTIVE MICROCONTACT PRINTING OF BIOMOLECULES ON SOFT HYDROGELS
First Claim
1. A system for isolating or culturing a cell, the system comprising a hydrogel film comprising a cross-linked polymeric composition has the characteristic of hydrating to form a hydrogel and having a topographical feature or a plurality of topographical features, wherein each topographical feature has a surface capable of receiving and immobilizing at least one biomolecule species thereon.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the present disclosure encompass microfabrication methods (“reactive microcontact printing of soft matter”) for hydrated soft polymer materials and surfaces for culture platforms suitable for the culturing of isolated single primary mammalian cells in an environment approximating the natural niches of the cells. Such culture platforms may comprise arrays of microwells, or other microscopically textured features, in which individual features can comprise desired proteins or mixtures of proteins. The microfabrication methods of the disclosure allow spatial control of surface biochemistry and topography at the micrometer scale on these hydrated soft gels. The hydrogels and methods of manufacture and use of the disclosure allow the isolation of a single stem cell and the characterizing of its interaction with cytokines and morphogens, especially with regard to modulation of the proliferative capacity of the stem cell when implanted in a recipient host. The systems for isolating or culturing a eukaryotic cell comprise a hydrogel film comprising a cross-linked polymeric composition having the characteristic of hydrating to form a hydrogel and having a topographical feature or a plurality of topographical features that may have a surface capable of receiving and immobilizing at least one biomolecule species thereon.
107 Citations
47 Claims
- 1. A system for isolating or culturing a cell, the system comprising a hydrogel film comprising a cross-linked polymeric composition has the characteristic of hydrating to form a hydrogel and having a topographical feature or a plurality of topographical features, wherein each topographical feature has a surface capable of receiving and immobilizing at least one biomolecule species thereon.
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20. A microcontact printing method of preparing a hydrogel, comprising:
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(a) providing a template comprising a negative topographical feature or a plurality of negative topographical features, wherein each negative topographical feature defines a topographical feature desired to be formed in a hydrogel, and wherein the negative topographical feature or features has on a surface thereof a biomolecule species desired to be transferred to a hydrogel, a tether capable of selectively binding to said biomolecule species, or a combination thereof; (b) delivering to the template a hydrogel polymer precursor composition; (c) polymerizing the hydrogel polymer precursor composition to form a hydrogel film; and (d) removing the hydrogel film from the template, thereby transferring the biomolecule species, the tether, or a combination thereof, to a surface of the topographical feature molded in the hydrogel film. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A method of isolating individual cells from a population of cells, comprising:
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(a) providing a hydrogel system disposed in a well of a multi-well tissue culture plate, wherein the hydrogel comprises a hydrated cross-linked polymer having an array of topographical features indented therein, and wherein a surface of each of the topographical features has at least one biomolecule species immobilized thereon; (b) delivering a cell suspension of isolated cells to the well of the multi-well tissue culture plate, whereby the cells of the suspension descend under gravity into the multiplicity of microwells, and wherein the cell density of the cell suspension is adjusted whereby at least one well of the multiplicity of wells receives a single cell; and (c) incubating the hydrogel under conditions favorable for proliferation of the cells. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A method for determining the proliferative outcome of transplanting a stem cell into a recipient host, comprising;
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(a) delivering a population of cells to a plurality of microwells indented in a hydrogel, wherein an interior surface of each microwell of the plurality of microwells has a biomolecule species immobilized thereon, and wherein at least some of the microwells of the multiplicity of microwells receive a single cell from the population of cells; (b) monitoring the proliferation of the isolated single cells by time-lapse photography; (c) correlating the proliferation of the cells to the proliferative outcome of a stem cell transplanted into a recipient host; and (d) identifying those cells in a microwell having the characteristic of regenerating a hematopoietic system when transplanted into a recipient host. - View Dependent Claims (47)
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Specification