Reconfigurable Magnetic Liquid Building Blocks for Constructing Artificial Spinal Column Tissues

• Published in: Advanced science Vol. 10; no. 25; pp. e2300694 - n/a
• Main Authors: Luo, Chao, Liu, Xubo, Zhang, Yifan, Dai, Haoyu, Ci, Hai, Mou, Shan, Zhou, Muran, Chen, Lifeng, Wang, Zhenxing, Russell, Thomas P., Sun, Jiaming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-09-2023; Wiley; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: alginate surfactants; Alginates - chemistry; all-liquid molding; Biocompatible Materials - chemistry; Bone marrow; Cartilage; Humans; in vivo cultivated tissues; Injection molding; Interfaces; Intervertebral Disc; Ligands; Magnetic fields; Magnetic Phenomena; Nanoparticles; Polyethylene glycol; Prostheses and Implants; Silicon; spinal column structures; Stem cells; structured magnetic droplets; Surfactants; in vivo cultivated tissues; spinal column structures; alginate surfactants; all-liquid molding; structured magnetic droplets
• ISSN: 2198-3844; 2198-3844
• DOI: 10.1002/advs.202300694

All‐liquid molding can be used to transform a liquid into free‐form solid constructs, while maintaining internal fluidity. Traditional biological scaffolds, such as cured pre‐gels, are normally processed in solid state, sacrificing flowability and permeability. However, it is essential to maintain the fluidity of the scaffold to truly mimic the complexity and heterogeneity of natural human tissues. Here, this work molds an aqueous biomaterial ink into liquid building blocks with rigid shapes while preserving internal fluidity. The molded ink blocks for bone‐like vertebrae and cartilaginous‐intervertebral‐disc shapes, are magnetically manipulated to assemble into hierarchical structures as a scaffold for subsequent spinal column tissue growth. It is also possible to join separate ink blocks by interfacial coalescence, different from bridging solid blocks by interfacial fixation. Generally, aqueous biomaterial inks are molded into shapes with high fidelity by the interfacial jamming of alginate surfactants. The molded liquid blocks can be reconfigured using induced magnetic dipoles, that dictated the magnetic assembly behavior of liquid blocks. The implanted spinal column tissue exhibits a biocompatibility based on in vitro seeding and in vivo cultivating results, showing potential physiological function such as bending of the spinal column.
Here, spinal column‐shaped blocks with biomimetic structures are fabricated by all‐liquid molding, magnetically‐driven assembly, and interfacial welding. A spinal column tissue mimic, as a proof‐of‐concept demonstration, is produced through the light‐curing of liquid blocks, in vitro seeding, and in vivo implanting into the rats.