Spheroid Array incorporated in Hydrogel as a Tissue-engineered Construct.

It is noted that three dimensional cellular aggregates (= spheroid) have the advantage to maintain the differentiation function due to their microenvironment nearer to in vivo tissue. In this study, we demonstrate the micropatterning of spheroids on a nonfouling substrate, followed by their transcription into poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogel from the substrate. The spheroid-containing gel was intensively studied in terms of physicochemical and biological view points. PEG hydrogel was size selective of permeation due to the difference of crosslinking density, which was clearly ensured by swelling properties. Note that the spheroids maintained their function even after transcription, which may have the high utility to reconstruct large size organization (organoid) for tissue engineering.