Two-photon lithography in the future of cell-based therapeutics and regenerative medicine: a review of techniques for hydrogel patterning and controlled release

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been considerable interest in using photochemistry to produce biomaterials, owing to their ability to be used in the presence of biological material. Two-photon-induced photoreactions have been used to produce materials for optical data storage and microfabrication and, recently, researchers have exploited two-photon-induced chemical processes to create biomaterials. Researchers have used two-photon-induced lithography to fabricate hydrogels with well-defined chemical and physical properties in 3D through network polymerization, functionalization, uncaging and degradation, as described in this article. Fabrication and modification of chemical and physical architecture of biomaterials in 3D with submicron resolution will allow the elucidation of more complex relationships in cell behavior and tissue development and introduce pathways to engineering complex tissues.