#microcytes

The material is formed by coating a temporary zinc-oxide framework with a thin hydrogel layer, then removing the underlying structure to leave a porous network.

In laboratory tests with astrocytes and microglia, the scaffold supported cell growth and allowed researchers to observe inflammatory signaling between the two cell types.

The study, published in Chem & Bio Engineering with collaborators from Harvard Medical School and University of Oxford, suggests the platform could be used to study brain cell interactions in controlled 3D environments.

Image: Electron microscope image of tetrapodal zinc oxide. The four-armed crystals form the initial scaffold for the aerohydrogels, which is later transformed into an ultralight hydrogel network. Credit: AG Funktionale Nanomaterialien, Kiel University

Header image: Fluorescent astrocytes under the microscope: the cells show their cytoskeleton in red, astrocyte-specific marker Connexin 43 in green, and cell nuclei in blue. Credit: Luise Schlotterose

Read more at Kiel University/Medical Xpress

Scientific paper: Torge Hartig et al, 3D Aerohydrogel Scaffolds for Brain Tissue Engineering and In Vitro Neuroscience, Chem & Bio Engineering (2026). DOI: 10.1021/cbe.5c00104

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