Paper as a scaffold for cell cultures: Teaching an old material new tricks
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Paper as a scaffold for cell cultures: Teaching an old material new tricks Xinchen Wu and Sanika Suvarnapathaki, Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology Program, University of Massachusetts Lowell, One University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854, USA Kierra Walsh, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, One University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854, USA Gulden Camci-Unal, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Lowell, One University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854, USA Address all correspondence to Gulden Camci-Unal at [email protected] (Received 2 December 2017; accepted 5 January 2018)
Abstract Paper-based cell culture platforms have emerged as a promising approach for a myriad of biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering, disease models, cancer research, biotechnology, high-throughput testing, biosensing, and diagnostics. Paper enables the generation of highly flexible, biocompatible, inexpensive, porous, and three-dimensional (3D) constructs and devices. These systems have been used to culture mammalian cells, bacteria, algae, and fungi. Studies have shown that paper is an exceptional material for applications in life sciences, materials sciences, engineering, and medicine. Paper has been employed for creating biomimetic cell culture environments by folding or stacking it into the desired 3D shapes and structures. This review discusses the use of paper-based platforms for cellular applications and provides a diverse range of examples.
Introduction Paper is one of the oldest and most remarkable materials, and has greatly helped advance our civilization. Paper has a multitude of applications in everyday life including writing, printing, packaging, arts, and sciences. For instance, origami, the art of paper folding, is employed in various scientific and industrial applications such as in stent implants, space satellites, and car airbags.[1] Paper, which is a cellulose-derived substrate, has been more recently employed as a material for tissue models. This is primarily due to its flexibility, ease of manufacturing, ability to shape into three-dimensional (3D) free-standing structures, low cost, wide availability, and accessibility.[2] There are various types of paper with different physical and chemical properties that are suitable to study cell behavior such as cell migration, epithelialization, differentiation, and tumor metastasis.[3] The use of paper-based, multi-well plate designs for studying cell migration and co-cultures has increased over the past years due to the ability to generate and analyze samples in a high-throughput manner.[4] Resolutions from tens to hundreds of microns can be obtained using paper, which enables these platforms to be practical for studying the migration of cells in 3D.[5] Paper has also been utilized for fabrication of origami-inspired 3D scaffolds that can induce template-guided mineralization.[6] In this review, the use of paper-based platforms for culturing different type of cells is extensively discussed. Mo
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