Elsevier Editorial System(tm) for Biomaterials Manuscript Draft ...

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suggesting covalent bonding between the two materials, which is suitable for generating
stable composite micropatterned structures. Following GelMA micropattern fabrication
and incubation to remove non-reacted gelatin from PEG surfaces, HUVEC cells
(2x10 6 /mL) were pipetted onto the surface for 12 h to allow for adhesion to occur,
washed with PBS to remove non-adherent cells, then incubated for an additional 12 h to
demonstrate persistence. As demonstrated, HUVEC cells bound only to GelMA
surfaces, and not to PEG surfaces, quickly creating a confluent monolayer on GelMA
patterns (Figure 6).
Microfluidic channels with endothelial linings created in GelMA
To demonstrate the use of GelMA in microfluidic systems, and as a potential
biomaterial for producing vascularized engineered tissues, endothelial cells were
seeded into a perfusable GelMA microchannel. For these tests, a block of GelMA was
polymerized containing a syringe needle, which when removed contained a 300 µm
diameter perfusable channel (Figure 7A). Rhodamine-labeled 3T3 fibroblasts were
embedded within the GelMA bulk, while FITC-Dextran (2000 kDa) was perfused through
the microchannel to demonstrate the ability to create perfusable, microfluidic channels
within cell-laden GelMA structures (Figure 7B-C). To investigate the ability to create
cell-laden constructs with endothelial-lined microchannels, HUVEC cells were seeded
into the channel and allowed to adhere (Figure 7D). The resultant co-cultured construct
of 3T3 cells with a HUVEC-lined microchannel demonstrate the potential for making co-
cultured, engineered constructs with perfusable microvasculature networks.