The invention provides a substrate for producing cell aggregates provided with a spot(s) comprising a copolymer containing recurring units derived from monomers represented by the following formulae (I) and (II):

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wherein U.sup.a1, U.sup.a2, R.sup.a1, R.sup.a2 and R.sup.b are as defined herein, on a substrate having an ability to inhibit adhesion of cells, wherein a completion time of forming cell aggregates after seeding cells is within 20 hours.

Bioreactors configured to scale-up the production of greater quantities of cells at relatively low cost are provided. These bioreactors may be utilized in the production of large-scale quantities of cell-based meat and cell-based fat. The bioreactors may be reusable and may have a high surface area-to-volume ratio for adherent cell expansion. The bioreactors may be capable of yielding a large number of adherent cells per bioreactor unit.

The present disclosure provides a method of producing uniformly sized organoids/multicellular spheroids using a microfluidic device having an array of microwells. The method involves several successive steps. First, a microfluidic device containing parallel rows of microwells that are connected with a supplying channel is filled with a wetting agent. The wetting agent is a liquid that is immiscible in water. For example, the wetting agent may be an organic liquid such as oil. In the next step, the agent in the supplying channel and the microwells is replaced with a suspension of cells in an aqueous solution that contains a precursor for a hydrogel. Next, the aqueous phase in the supplying channel is replaced with the agent, which leads to the formation of an array of droplets of cell suspension in the hydrogel precursor solution, which were compartmentalized in the wells. The droplets are then transformed into cell-laden hydrogels. Subsequently, the agent in the supplying channel is replaced with the cell culture medium continuously flowing through the microfluidic device and the cells within the hydrogels are transformed into multicellular spheroids.

A method of lithographic masking for spatially localized biochemical stimulus delivery, comprising the steps of providing a group of cells on a substrate, coating a layer of gelatin on a portion of the cells, creating a mask layer on a portion of the layer of gelatin on a portion of the cells, and creating an area of masked cells and an area of unmasked cells. Further, the method can include delivering a biochemical signal to the area of unmasked cells, removing the mask layer, and allowing the cells with the biochemical signal and the cells without the biochemical signal to interact freely.

The present disclosure provides a substrate for cell culture. Systems comprising the substrate, and methods for using and manufacturing the substrate are also disclosed herein.

The invention relates to peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) monolayers or bone-marrow cell monolayers and methods for its culture and corresponding uses of said monolayers. The present invention also relates, in some aspects, to screening methods comprising the PBMC monolayer or bone-marrow cell monolayer of the invention for determination of response or lack of response of a disease to a therapeutic agent and/or drug screening methods. In some aspects, the invention further relates to methods for diagnosing a disease or predisposition to a disease in a PBMC donor or bone-marrow cell donor comprising the PBMCs/bone-marrow cells cultured according to the method of the invention and/or to methods for determining whether the disease is likely to respond or is responsive to treatment with a therapeutic agent.

Described herein is a beads-free bioprocessor as an automated and cost-effective T cell processing and manufacturing platform. T cells are a core component in CAR T cell therapies for cancer treatment, but are difficult to manufacture to scale in clinically relevant quantities. The 3D bioprocessor provides an alternative device that is scalable, beads-free, easy-to-use, and cost-effective for using CAR T cell therapy in cancer immunotherapy. Besides CAR T cell application, this platform technology has potential for many other applications such as cancer cell isolation.

Device, and methods of using or making the device, for engineering cells in vitro are disclosed. In some aspects, a cell culture device comprises at least one glass or polymer surface configured for incubating cells in a culture medium; a charged molecule electrostatically bound to the surface; and a polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) electrostatically bound to the charged molecule, the PEM comprising one or more bi-layers of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes, and the PEM having a sufficient thickness to permit release of the charged molecule into the culture medium in a controlled released manner.

The invention relates to peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) monolayers or bone-marrow cell monolayers and methods for its culture and corresponding uses of said monolayers. The present invention also relates, in some aspects, to screening methods comprising the PBMC monolayer or bone-marrow cell monolayer of the invention for determination of response or lack of response of a disease to a therapeutic agent and/or drug screening methods. In some aspects, the invention further relates to methods for diagnosing a disease or predisposition to a disease in a PBMC donor or bone-marrow cell donor comprising the PBMCs/bone-marrow cells cultured according to the method of the invention and/or to methods for determining whether the disease is likely to respond or is responsive to treatment with a therapeutic agent.

The present disclosure relates to a method for micropatterning on silicone-based elastomer, the method including forming an initiator at a position of the silicone-based elastomer having high optical transmittance and transparency, and moving a laser beam to induce chain pyrolysis, thereby forming micropatterns with high quality in a very short time.