Enhanced oxygen permeability in membrane-bottomed concave microwells for the formation of pancreatic islet spheroids.

Unlabelled: Oxygen availability is a critical factor in regulating cell viability that ultimately contributes to the normal morphogenesis and functionality of human tissues. Among various cell culture platforms, construction of 3D multicellular spheroids based on microwell arrays has been extensively applied to reconstitute in vitro human tissue models due to its precise control of tissue culture conditions as well as simple fabrication processes. However, an adequate supply of oxygen into the spheroidal cellular aggregation still remains one of the main challenges to producing healthy in vitro spheroidal tissue models.

Influence of the block hydrophilicity of AB2 miktoarm star copolymers on cluster formation in solutions.

We investigated the formation of various micelle shapes of lipid-like amphiphilic AB(2) miktoarm star copolymers in a solution, by performing dissipative particle dynamics simulations. AB(2) miktoarm star copolymer molecules are modeled with coarse-grained structures that consist of a relatively hydrophilic head (A) group with a single arm and a hydrophobic tail (B) group with double arms. A decrease in the hydrophilicity of the head group leads to a reduction of the polymer-solvent contact area, causing cluster structure changes from spherical micelles to vesicles.