An Innovative Customized Biomimetic Hydrogel for Drug Screening Application Potential: Biocompatibility and Cell Invasion Ability

Abstract

The ability of Pluronic F127 (PF127) conjugated with tetrapeptide Gly-Arg-Gly-Asp (GRGD) as a sequence of Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptide to form the investigated potential hydrogel (hereafter referred to as 3DG bioformer (3BE)) to produce spheroid, biocompatibility, and cell invasion ability, was assessed in this study. The fibroblast cell line (NIH 3T3), osteoblast cell line (MG-63), and human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) were cultured in the 3BE hydrogel and commercial product (Matrigel) for comparison. The morphology of spheroid formation was evaluated via optical microscopy. The cell viability was observed through cell counting Kit-8 assay, and cell invasion was investigated via Boyden chamber assay. Analytical results indicated that 3BE exhibited lower spheroid formation than Matrigel. However, the 3BE appeared biocompatible to NIH 3T3, MG-63, and MCF-7 cells. Moreover, cell invasion ability and cell survival rate after invasion through the 3BE was displayed to be comparable to Matrigel. Thus, these findings demonstrate that the 3BE hydrogel has a great potential as an alternative to a three-dimensional cell culture for drug screening applications.

Celecoxib, a Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug, Exerts a Toxic Effect on Human Melanoma Cells Grown as 2D and 3D Cell Cultures

“…The toxic effect exerted by celecoxib on melanoma cells was investigated by performing an ATP assay to evaluate the cell viability in the presence of the drug. In particular, A2058 and SAN melanoma cells were treated with vehicle alone or increasing concentrations of celecoxib (30,60,80 or 100 µM) for different incubation times. Data shown in Figure 2 indicate that celecoxib reduced the cell viability of both melanoma cell lines in a dose-and time-dependent manner.…”

“…Hydrogels represent a good tool to study the growth, as well as the response, of tumor spheroids to drugs in a more appropriate environment [40,56,57]. In particular, the hydrogel polymerization forms a dense gel that encapsulates the spheroid, permitting the study of cell invasion behavior [58][59][60]. Hence, spheroids of A2058 and SAN melanoma cells were untreated and treated with different concentrations of celecoxib (40, 80 or 100 µM) and their cell invasion capability into hydrogel was evaluated after 24, 48 and 72 h (Figures 8 and 9).…”

Simple Technique for Microscopic Evaluation of Active Cellular Invasion into 3D Hydrogel Constructs

“…At each time point the hydrogel and uninvaded cells can be swabbed from the chamber, the trans-well membrane removed, and the migrated cells on the bottom of the membrane can be stained or counted . This technique been successfully applied to assess the invasiveness of certain cell types, the increased motility of cells in response to different ligand inclusions, , and cell migration responses to matrix mechanical strength . This approach is an absolute assessment of migration and will only show the number cells that have migrated through the hydrogel; active cell migration or cells that have adhered to the internal hydrogel matrix are removed with the hydrogel in order to stain the well-insert membrane.…”

Printable Hydrogels Based on Alginate and Halloysite Nanotubes

“…Their swelling ability, pH sensitivity, and temperature and/or other stimuli responsiveness represent some special properties of this class of materials which can be exploited in a wide range of technological applications [ 3 , 4 ]. For instance, the literature reports many studies where hydrogels can be applied in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, drug delivery systems, tissue engineering, food additives, diagnostics, biosensors, wound dressings, etc., [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ].…”