Increasing evidence suggests that culturing cancer cells in three dimensions more accurately recapitulates the complexity of tumor biology. Many of these models utilize reconstituted basement membrane derived from animals which contain a variable amount of growth factors and cytokines that can influence the growth of these cell culture models. Here, we describe in detail the preparation and use...

Drug metabolism studies and liver tissue engineering necessitate stable hepatocyte cultures that express liver functions for a minimum of 4 days to 3 weeks. Current techniques, using different biomaterials and geometries, that maintain hepatocellular function in vitro exhibit a low cell density and functional capacity per unit volume. Herein we investigated a well-defined synthetic peptide that...

Cell therapy in experimental models of Parkinson's disease replaces the lost dopamine neurons (DAN), but we still need improved methods to guide dopaminergic axons (DAx) of grafted neurons to make proper connections. The protein Semaphorin 3C (Sema3C) attracts DAN axons and enhances their growth. In this work, we show that the hydrogel PuraMatrix, a self-assembling peptide-based matrix, incorpo...

The aim of this study is to examine a novel drop culture model using a biologically inspired self-assembling peptide: hydrogel (RAD16-I, also called PuraMatrix), which produces a nanoscale environment similar to native extracellular matrix (ECM) for a cell line weakly adherent to a plastic surface during cell culture. Our work investigates quantitatively analyzing discoidin domain receptor (DDR...

To seek a suitable scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering, we compared various hydrogel materials originating from animals, plants, or synthetic peptides. Human auricular chondrocytes were embedded in atelopeptide collagen, alginate, or PuraMatrix, all of which are or will soon be clinically available. The chondrocytes in the atelopeptide collagen proliferated well, while the others showed n...

Stroke and spinal cord or brain injury often result in cavity formation. Stem cell transplantation in combination with tissue engineering has the potential to fill such a cavity and replace lost neurons. Several hydrogels containing unique features particularly suitable for the delicate nervous system were tested by determining whether these materials were compatible with fetal human neural ste...

traumatic brain injury (tbi) is described by a disruption in the normal function of the brain due to an injury following a trauma, which can potentially cause severe physical, cognitive, and emotional impairment. the use of human stem cells and self-assembling peptide scaffolds suggest huge potential for application in the treatment of tbi. in the present study, we surveyed the beneficial effec...

BACKGROUND 3D-scaffolds have been shown to direct cell growth and differentiation in many different cell types, with the formation and functionalisation of the 3D-microenviroment being important in determining the fate of the embedded cells. Here we used a hydrogel-based scaffold to investigate the influences of matrix concentration and functionalisation with laminin on the formation of the sca...

Abstract Central nervous system (CNS) injuries such as stroke or trauma can lead to long-lasting disability, and there is no currently accepted treatment regenerate functional CNS tissue after injury. Hydrogels mimic the neural extracellular matrix by providing a suitable 3D structure mechanical properties have shown great promise in regeneration. Here we present successful synthesis of thermos...

Biomaterial scaffolds have the potential to enhance neuronal development and regeneration. Understanding the genetic responses of astrocytes and neurons to biomaterials could facilitate the development of synthetic environments that enable the specification of neural tissue organization with engineered scaffolds. In this study, we used high throughput transcriptomic and imaging methods to deter...