A Novel Hydrogel Sponge for Three-Dimensional Cell Culture

• Published in: Pharmaceutics Vol. 16; no. 10; p. 1341
• Main Authors: Baldassari, Sara, Yan, Mengying, Ailuno, Giorgia, Zuccari, Guendalina, Bassi, Anna Maria, Vernazza, Stefania, Tirendi, Sara, Ferrando, Sara, Comite, Antonio, Drava, Giuliana, Caviglioli, Gabriele
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 19-10-2024; MDPI
• Subjects: 3-D printers; 3D cell culture; Analysis; cancer cell culture; Cell culture; drug testing; hydrogel sponge; Hydrogels; polyacrylic; Polymer melts; Porosity; scaffold; Sodium; Stainless steel; Tissue engineering; Italy; United States > US; Germany; drug testing; thermal treatment; hydrogel sponge; scaffold; 3D cell culture; cancer cell culture; polyacrylic
• ISSN: 1999-4923; 1999-4923
• DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics16101341

Three-dimensional (3D) cell culture technologies allow us to overcome the constraints of two-dimensional methods in different fields like biochemistry and cell biology and in pharmaceutical in vitro tests. In this study, a novel 3D hydrogel sponge scaffold, composed of a crosslinked polyacrylic acid forming a porous matrix, has been developed and characterized.
The scaffold was obtained via an innovative procedure involving thermal treatment followed by a salt-leaching step on a matrix-containing polymer along with a gas-forming agent. Based on experimental design for mixtures, a series of formulations were prepared to study the effect of the three components (polyacrylic acid, NaHCO
and NaCl) on the scaffold mechanical properties, density, swelling behavior and morphological changes. Physical appearance, surface morphology, porosity, molecular diffusion, transparency, biocompatibility and cytocompatibility were also evaluated.
The hydrogel scaffolds obtained show high porosity and good optical transparency and mechanical resistance. The scaffolds were successfully employed to culture several cell lines for more than 20 days.
The developed scaffolds could be an important tool, as such or with a specific coating, to obtain a more predictive cellular response to evaluate drugs in preclinical studies or for testing chemical compounds, biocides and cosmetics, thus reducing animal testing.