Surface patterned hydrogel film as a flexible scaffold for 2D and 3D cell co-culture

Herein we report a facile route for the preparation of surface patterned dynamic hydrogel films, which are not only a matrix to encapsulate one type of cell in 3D but also a substrate to support aligned aggregates of magnetic silica rods to adhere another type of cell in 2D. This enables the composite hydrogel films to be flexible scaffolds for engineering multi-cellular tissues.