A Cost-Effective Method to Assemble Biomimetic 3D Cell Culture Platforms

Abstract

Developing effective stem cell based therapies requires the design of complex in vitro culture systems for more accurate representation of the stem cell niche. Attempts to improve conventional cell culture platforms include the use of biomaterial coated culture plates, sphere culture, microfluidic systems and bioreactors. Most of these platforms are not cost-effective, require industrial technical expertise to fabricate, and remain too simplistic compared to the physiological cell niche. The human amniotic membrane (hAM) has been used successfully in clinical grafting applications due to its unique biological composition and regenerative properties. In this study, we present a combinatorial platform that integrates the hAM with biomolecular, topographic and mechanical cues in one versatile model.MethodsWe utilized the hAM to provide the biological and the three dimensional (3D) topographic components of the prototype. The 3D nano-roughness of the hAM was characterized using surface electron microscopy and surface image analysis (ImageJ and SurfaceJ). We developed additional macro-scale and micro-scale versions of the platform which provided additional shear stress factors to simulate the fluid dynamics of the in vivo extracellular fluids.ResultsThree models of varying complexities of the prototype were assembled. A well-defined 3D surface modulation of the hAM in comparable to commercial 3D biomaterial culture substrates was achieved without complex fabrication and with significantly lower cost. Performance of the prototype was demonstrated through culture of primary human umbilical cord mononuclear blood cells (MNCs), human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell line (hBMSC), and human breast cancer tissue.ConclusionThis study presents methods of assembling an integrated, flexible and low cost biomimetic cell culture platform for diverse cell culture applications.

Combined Biomaterials: Amniotic Membrane and Adipose Tissue to Restore Injured Bone as Promoter of Calcification in Bone Regeneration: Preclinical Model

“…The decellularization process preserved the membranous structure integrity of the amniotic membrane, which was not fragile or difficult to handle. DAM provided a more biomimetic niche than the culture dish surface [ 20 ], biocompatible, and stable during the extended in vitro culture period for ASCs osteoblastic differentiation. Mineralized bone-like matrix deposited by ASCs was formed by calcium phosphate-containing globular accretions, as also demonstrate previously by detailed ultrastructural and mineral phase analyses [ 21 ].…”

Innovative Human Three-Dimensional Tissue-Engineered Models as an Alternative to Animal Testing

“…For some techniques, specialized equipment is required and contributes to raising expenses [ 83 ]. Therefore, different studies aim to develop and establish low-cost 3D cell culture techniques [ 84 , 85 , 86 ].…”

Efficiency of Differently Processed Membranes Based on Cellulose as Cationic Dye Adsorbents

“…The membrane shrinking was most visible in BCox, as a consequence of membrane oxidation, especially when compared with much flatter BC. More detailed inspection of these qualitative findings was performed by the plotting of the 3D surface (Figure 5b) of the CFM image from the fluorescence channel using the ImageJ plugin Interactive 3D Surface Plot, which enables the representation of 3D topography, while the additional SurfaceJ plugin quantitatively mapped the surface topography by measuring the μ-roughness parameters [38]. The latter exhibited roughness (in μm) at max.…”