Summary
Published in Acta Biomaterialia (2018), this peer-reviewed study used 3D Petri Dish® micro-molds to form scaffold-free 3D microtissues. Full citation: Wilks, Benjamin T., et al. Directing fibroblast self-assembly to fabricate highly-aligned, collagen-rich matrices
Directing fibroblast self-assembly to fabricate highly-aligned, collagen-rich matrices
Research Overview
Extracellular matrix composition and organization govern cell migration, differentiation, survival, and metastasis, driving efforts to build in vitro models that reproduce native tissue architecture.
This study demonstrated fabrication of highly aligned, cell-derived tissue constructs through self-assembly of human dermal fibroblasts. By optimizing mold geometry, cell seeding density, and medium composition, the authors directed fibroblasts to adhere to one another around a nonadhesive agarose peg — producing aligned matrix architecture from the cells themselves rather than from an engineered scaffold.
Key Discoveries
- Highly aligned tissue constructs fabricated purely from fibroblast self-assembly
- Mold geometry, seeding density, and medium composition tuned to direct alignment
- Cells assembled around a nonadhesive agarose peg, producing cell-derived aligned matrix
