ArticleTissue engineering. Part C, Methods2012
A microwell cell culture platform for the aggregation of pancreatic β-cells.
Article in Tissue engineering. Part C, Methods, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers.
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Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed.
- Scaffold-free endocrine tissue engineering: role of islet organization and implications in type 1 diabetes.BMC endocrine disorders · 2025Review
- Polymer design of microwell hydrogels influences epithelial-mesenchymal interactions during human bronchosphere formation.Advanced nanobiomed research · 2025Article
- Comparative Study of Two Common In Vitro Models for the Pancreatic Islet with MIN6.Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine · 2023Article
- Poly(ethylene glycol)-Norbornene as a Photoclick Bioink for Digital Light Processing 3D Bioprinting.ACS applied materials & interfaces · 2023Article
- Three-dimensional bioprinting of functional β-islet-like constructs.International journal of bioprinting · 2023Article
- The cultivation conditions affect the aggregation and functionality of β-cell lines alone and in coculture with mesenchymal stromal/stem cells.Engineering in life sciences · 2022Article
- Methodological approaches in aggregate formation and microscopic analysis to assess pseudoislet morphology and cellular interactions.Open research Europe · 2022Article
- Improved Differentiation of hESC-Derived Pancreatic Progenitors by Using Human Fetal Pancreatic Mesenchymal Cells in a Micro-scalable Three-Dimensional Co-culture System.Stem cell reviews and reports · 2022Article
- Towards the Development of a Female Animal Model of T1DM Using Hyaluronic Acid Nanocoated Cell Transplantation: Refinements and Considerations for Future Protocols.Pharmaceutics · 2021Article
- Emerging Treatment Strategies for Diabetes Mellitus and Associated Complications: An Update.Pharmaceutics · 2021Review
- Fabrication approaches for high-throughput and biomimetic disease modeling.Acta biomaterialia · 2021Review
- Novel enzymatic cross-linking-based hydrogel nanofilm caging system on pancreatic β cell spheroid for long-term blood glucose regulation.Science advances · 2021Article
- Engineered Microsystems for Spheroid and Organoid Studies.Advanced healthcare materials · 2021Review
- Controlled 3D co-culture of beta cells and endothelial cells in a micropatterned collagen sheet for reproducible construction of an improved pancreatic pseudo-tissue.APL bioengineering · 2020Article
- Biomaterials for Bioprinting Microvasculature.Chemical reviews · 2020Review
- Rapid fabrication of sieved microwells and cross-flow microparticle trapping.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Temozolomide in Combination With NF-κB Inhibitor Significantly Disrupts the Glioblastoma Multiforme Spheroid Formation.IEEE open journal of engineering in medicine and biology · 2020Article
- In situ graphene liquid cell-transmission electron microscopy study of insulin secretion in pancreatic islet cells.International journal of nanomedicine · 2019Article
- Near-infrared light-regulated cancer theranostic nanoplatform based on aggregation-induced emission luminogen encapsulated upconversion nanoparticles.Theranostics · 2019Article
- Recent Advances in Engineering the Stem Cell Microniche in 3D.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Cell-cell contact between pancreatic β-cells is important for maintaining survival and normal insulin secretion. Various techniques have been developed to promote cell-cell contact between β-cells, but a simple yet robust method that affords precise control over three-dimensional (3D) β-cell cluster size has not been demonstrated. To address this need, we developed a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel microwell platform using photolithography. This microwell cell-culture platform promotes the formation of 3D β-cell aggregates of defined sizes from 25 to 210 μm in diameter. Using this platform, mouse insulinoma 6 (MIN6) β-cells formed aggregates with cell-cell adherin junctions. These naturally formed cell aggregates with controllable sizes can be removed from the microwells for macroencapsulation, implantation, or other biological assays. When removed and subsequently encapsulated in PEG hydrogels, the aggregated cell clusters demonstrated improved cellular viability (>90%) over 7 days in culture, while the β-cells encapsulated as single cells maintained only 20% viability. Aggregated MIN6 cells also exhibited more than fourfold higher insulin secretion in response to a glucose challenge compared with encapsulated single β-cells. Further, the cell aggregates stained positively for E-cadherin, indicative of the formation of cell junctions. Using this hydrogel microwell cell-culture method, viable and functional β-cell aggregates of specific sizes were created, providing a platform from which other biologically relevant questions may be answered.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.