The Evolution of Polystyrene as a Cell Culture Material

Abstract

Polystyrene (PS) has brought in vitro cell culture from its humble beginnings to the modern era, propelling dozens of research fields along the way. This review discusses the development of the material, fabrication, and treatment approaches to create the culture material. However, native PS surfaces poorly facilitate cell adhesion and growth in vitro. To overcome this, liquid surface deposition, energetic plasma activation, and emerging functionalization methods transform the surface chemistry. This review seeks to highlight the many potential applications of the first widely accepted polymer growth surface. Although the majority of in vitro research occurs on two-dimensional surfaces, the importance of three-dimensional (3D) culture models cannot be overlooked. The methods to transition PS to specialized 3D culture surfaces are also reviewed. Specifically, casting, electrospinning, 3D printing, and microcarrier approaches to shift PS to a 3D culture surface are highlighted. The breadth of applications of the material makes it impossible to highlight every use, but the aim remains to demonstrate the versatility and potential as both a general and custom cell culture surface. The review concludes with emerging scaffolding approaches and, based on the findings, presents our insights on the future steps for PS as a tissue culture platform.

Plasma deposition of collagen for cell‐culture applications

“…If the cost of producing the precoated microplates, Petri dishes and flasks could be reduced significantly by the adoption of a plasma‐coating process, then it is likely that the market could be significantly altered and plasma‐coated microplates could be widely adopted in this sector. Plasma activation and vacuum plasma deposition are already standard approaches used in the cell‐culture industry and this could help to speed translation and adoption of the plasma‐coating technology. Significantly, it is possible to extrapolate the results of this study to suggest that plasma processing could possess the ability to coat diagnostic tools and medical devices with protein‐based biologics and further studies are underway to explore this area.…”

“…TCT treatment improves biocompatibility through simple oxidation, but more complex surfaces are often required to grow particular cell lines, and this can be facilitated through the deposition of amine or carboxylic acid functionalities . This has been recently reviewed by Lerman et al…”

“…[1] Traditional glassware has gradually been replaced by various plastic surfaces and the majority of in vitro and diagnostic cellculture studies are now carried out on polystyrene (PS) surfaces. [1] As prepared, PS is an inherently hydrophobic material and does not readily promote cell attachment and proliferation. Therefore, the cell-culture market relies on a variety of plasma treatments to render PS hydrophilic and the resultant surface is routinely referred to as a tissue culture-treated (TCT) surface.…”

“…TCT treatment improves biocompatibility through simple oxidation, [2,3] but more complex surfaces are often required to grow particular cell lines, and this can be facilitated through the deposition of amine or carboxylic acid functionalities. [4,5] This has been recently reviewed by Lerman et al [1] Multiwell PS microplates are now commonly used in analytical research and in clinical diagnostic testing, and these are frequently plasma-treated to produce TCT plates. [1][2][3] Despite the commercial success of TCT plates, there are certain cells that respond better to a more natural biological interface, and this has led to the development of various protein and extracellular membrane (ECM) coatings that are applied over TCT surfaces.…”

Development of surface functionalization strategies for 3D‐printed polystyrene constructs

“…Polystyrene (PS) has served as the fundamental substrate for adherent cell culture for more than 50 years . However, the lack of surface functionality which cells recognize and spread on has dictated the need to modify PS surfaces to facilitate anchorage and develop 3D models to more accurately mimic real biological systems . Typical tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) exhibits high surface oxidation, providing a functionalized surface for cells to adhere and proliferate .…”