posted on 2020-09-30, 18:32authored bySonja Johannsmeier, Minh Thanh Truc Nguyen, Ruben Hohndorf, Gerald Dräger, Dag Heinemann, Tammo Ripken, Alexander Heisterkamp
Hydrogels are favored
materials in tissue engineering as they can
be used to imitate tissues, provide scaffolds, and guide cell behavior.
Recent advances in the field of optogenetics have created a need for
biocompatible optical waveguides, and hydrogels have been investigated
to meet these requirements. However, combining favorable waveguiding
characteristics, high biocompatibility, and controllable bioactivity
in a single device remains challenging. Here, we investigate the use
of poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels as carriers and illumination systems
for in vitro cell culture. We present a comprehensive
and reproducible protocol for selective bioactivation of the hydrogels,
achieving high proliferation rates and strong cell adhesion on the
treated surface. A cell model expressing the photoconvertible fluorescent
protein Dendra2 confirmed that light-cell interactions occur at the
hydrogel surface. Monte Carlo simulations were performed as a tool
to predict the extent of these interactions. This study demonstrates
a hydrogel-based waveguiding system for targeted cell stimulation in vitro and potentially in vivo environments.