Forming Three-Dimensional Cellular Tissue in Micro-Molded Agarose Gels Using Mechanical Stimulation

In regenerative medicine process and drug screening, three-dimensional cellular tissues in large numbers are necessary. To culture the cell tissues massively, forming the cell tissues in a short time is one of the keys. Therefore, we propose a method to form three-dimensional cellular tissues rapidly close to in vivo, stimulating cells with pressure stimulation by combining a pneumatic device mainly made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and hydrogel microwell. In this study, the pneumatic device inflated by air pressure pressurized cells through an agarose gel microwell in the device. Consequently, stimulating air pressure on the cell tissues while culture affected the formation of the cell tissues.