申请人:University of Connecticut
公开号:US20210348122A1
公开(公告)日:2021-11-11
Provided are polymers, which may be crosslinked to form a main-chain liquid crystalline (LC) hydrogel with a three-dimensional network. Also provided are methods of using the hydrogel as a substrate for tissue culture. For example, the hydrogel may organize into LC phases and encapsulate a plurality of cells within its polymeric network. In some embodiments, human stem cells are cultured using the present method with good viability and demonstrate faster proliferation in the present LC hydrogel compared to a non-LC gel.