Microgels proved to be an essential tool in many biomedical applications, including drug release, tissue engineering or cell therapy applications. The control over microgel size, shape, chemical composition and mechanical properties is required in these applications. Lithographic synthesis of the microgels is the only known way to achieve this control. These, however, require synthetic photocrosslinkable polymers, which can induce biocompatibility issues upon their in-vivo application. The use of natural biopolymers in bioapplications would represent a superior alternative, but natural biopolymers cannot be shaped using photolithographic techniques.
In this project, we are developing a general method for large-scale lithographic continuous synthesis of arbitrarily shaped microgels, composed from chemically non-modified biopolymers.
Figure: Sechematic process of microgel fabrication
Figure: Arbitrarily-shaped alginate microgels
Kodakkadan, Y. N. V.; Idzakovicova, K.; Sepitka, J.; Napel, D. ten; Safai, E.; Cigler, P.; Štěpánek, F.; Rehor, I. Arbitrarily-Shaped Microgels Composed of Chemically Unmodified Biopolymers. Biomater. Sci. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1039/C9BM02056J