Study Endothelial Cell Networking in Hydrogel Under Oxygen Gradients Using Microfluidic Devices

In this paper, a microfluidic device capable of culturing cells in three-dimensional (3D) hydrogel under oxygen gradients is developed. The developed device is exploited to study the networking of endothelial cells, which plays an important role in vasculogenesis, in 3D matrix under different oxygen microenvironments. The vasculogenesis is an important process during normal development and disease progression in vivo. The device offers an in vitro model mimicking vasculogenesis process under physiological oxygen microenvironments in 3D matrix. The experimental results suggest that oxygen gradient plays a critical role in regulating endothelial cell networking in a 3D matrix. The device provides a powerful platform to study 3D cellular behaviors under oxygen gradients for various biomedical studies.