Injectable Therapeutic Organoids Using Sacrificial Hydrogels.

Organoids are becoming widespread in drug-screening technologies but have been used sparingly for cell therapy as current approaches for producing self-organized cell clusters lack scalability or reproducibility in size and cellular organization. We introduce a method of using hydrogels as sacrificial scaffolds, which allow cells to form self-organized clusters followed by gentle release, resulting in highly reproducible multicellular structures on a large scale. We demonstrated this strategy for endothelial cells and mesenchymal stem cells to self-organize into blood-vessel units, which were injected into mice, and rapidly formed perfusing vasculature.

Bringing Real-Time Geospatial Precision to HIV Surveillance Through Smartphones: Feasibility Study.

Background: Precise measurements of HIV incidences at community level can help mount a more effective public health response, but the most reliable methods currently require labor-intensive population surveys. Novel mobile phone technologies are being tested for adherence to medical appointments and antiretroviral therapy, but using them to track HIV test results with automatically generated geospatial coordinates has not been widely tested.

Objective: We customized a portable reader for interpreting the results of HIV lateral flow tests and developed a mobile phone app to track HIV test results in urban and rural locations in Rwanda.

Preconditioning of mesenchymal stromal cells toward nucleus pulposus-like cells by microcryogels-based 3D cell culture and syringe-based pressure loading system.

To precondition mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) with mechanical stimulation may enhance cell survival and functions following implantation in load bearing environment such as nucleus pulposus (NP) in intervertebral disc (IVD). In this study, preconditioning of MSCs toward NP-like cells was achieved in previously developed poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) microcryogels (PMs) within a syringe-based three-dimensional (3D) culture system which provided a facile and cost-effective pressure loading approach. PMs loaded with alginate and MSCs could be incubated in a sealable syringe which could be air-compressed to apply pressure loading through a programmable syringe pump.

Preformed gelatin microcryogels as injectable cell carriers for enhanced skin wound healing.

Unlabelled: Wound dressings of cell-laden bulk hydrogel or scaffold were mainly applied for enhanced cell engraftment in contrast to free cell injection. However, dressing of cells laden in biomaterials on wound surface might not effectively and timely exert functions on deep or chronic wounds where insufficient blood supply exists. Previously, we developed injectable gelatin microcryogels (GMs) which could load cells for enhanced cell delivery and cell therapy.

Injectable microcryogels reinforced alginate encapsulation of mesenchymal stromal cells for leak-proof delivery and alleviation of canine disc degeneration.

In situ crosslinked thermo-responsive hydrogel applied for minimally invasive treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) may not prevent extrusion of cell suspension from injection site due to high internal pressure of intervertebral disc (IVD), causing treatment failure or osteophyte formation. In this study, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) were encapsulated in alginate precursor and loaded into previously developed macroporous PGEDA-derived microcryogels (PMs) to form three-dimensional (3D) microscale cellular niches, enabling non-thermo-responsive alginate hydrogel to be injectable. The PMs reinforced alginate hydrogel showed superior elasticity compared to alginate hydrogel alone and could well protect encapsulated cells through injection.