Bead-based Rapid Construction of Heterogeneous 3d Tissue Architecture

This paper describes a method to construct macroscopic heterogeneous 3D tissue architecture by molding bead based micro-tissue units, so called “cell beads”. We prepared mass-producible monodisperse collagen micro-gel beads coated with cells that we could stack into a mold to produce large-scale tissues rapidly with uniform cell density (Fig. 1). By using different types of cell beads or assembling macroscopic tissues prepared from the different cell types of beads, heterogeneous 3D tissue architecture was easily prepared. This approach would enable the rapid and reproducible construction of large-scale 3D tissues with a complex microstructure.