Journal
BIOSENSORS & BIOELECTRONICS
Volume 19, Issue 9, Pages 1075-1088Publisher
ELSEVIER ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2003.10.008
Keywords
collagen hydrogel; immobilization; IMR-32 neuroblastoma cells; differentiation; extracellular matrices
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To address the growing demand for functional cell-based assay technologies with accelerated drug discovery applications, we have proposed the use of human neuroblastoma cells (IMR-32) immobilized in three-dimensional (3-D) collagen hydrogel matrices. The gel protects weakly adherent cells from fluid mechanical forces while providing a more physiologically relevant 3-D environment. Hydrogels made up of collagen, between 0.5 and 1.0 mg/ml, exhibited mechanical stability adequate to withstand fluid mechanical forces (<0.11 mN) typical of automated commercial fluid transfer equipment. Collagen-entrapped cells Visualized with the aid of confocal microscopy and a potentiometric-sensitive dye, TMRM, exhibited round morphology in comparison to flat morphology typical of cells in two-dimensional (2-D) monolayer Cultures. Morphological differentiation characterized by neurite extension and cell aggregation was observed for both 2-D and 3-D cultures. Differentiated IMR-32 cells failed to develop a testing membrane potential typical of excitable cells. Free intracellular calcium was monitored with Calcium Green-1. Depolarization-induced Ca2+ influx was only observed with differentiated 3-D cells unlike 2-D cells, where calcium flux was observed in both differentiated and undifferentiated cells. Taken to-ether, the results revealed that collagen hydrogels (0.5 mg/ml collagen) were suitable Structural Supports for weakly adherent cells. However, for voltage-dependent calcium channel function applications, further investigations are needed to explain the difference between 2-D monolayer and 3-D collagen-entrapped cells. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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