Differentiation of stem cells into chondrocytes has been studied for the engineering of cartilage tissue. However, stem cells cultured two-dimensionally have limited ability to differentiate into chondrocytes, which led to the development of three-dimensional culture systems. A recently developed microtechnological method uses microwells as a tool to form uniformly sized spheroids. In this study, we fabricated an array (10 × 10) of goblet-shaped microwells based on polydimethylsiloxane for spheroid culture. A central processing unit (CPU) was used to form holes, and metallic beads were used to form hemispherical microwell geometry. The holes were filled with Pluronic F-127 to prevent cells from sinking through the holes and allowing the cells to form spheroids. Viability and chondrogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells were assessed. The fabrication method using a micro-pin mold and metallic beads is easy and cost-effective. Our three-dimensional spheroid culture system optimizes the efficient differentiation of cells and has various applications, such as drug delivery, cell therapy, and tissue engineering.

中文翻译：

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利用包含生物相容性水凝胶的杯状微孔的三维软骨组织再生系统。

为了软骨组织的工程化，已经研究了干细胞向软骨细胞的分化。然而，二维培养的干细胞分化为软骨细胞的能力有限，这导致了三维培养系统的发展。最近开发的微技术方法使用微孔作为工具来形成大小均一的球体。在这项研究中，我们基于聚二甲基硅氧烷制备了杯状微孔阵列（10×10），用于球体培养。中央处理单元（CPU）用于形成孔，金属珠用于形成半球形微孔几何形状。孔中装有Pluronic F-127，以防止细胞沉入孔中并允许细胞形成球体。评估了人类脂肪干细胞的活力和软骨分化。使用微针模具和金属珠的制造方法既简单又经济。我们的三维球体培养系统优化了细胞的高效分化，并具有多种应用，例如药物递送，细胞治疗和组织工程。