[Development of novel cell culture systems utilizing the advantages of collagen vitrigel membrane].
The white of an egg, rendered opaque by boiling, can be converted into a thin, transparent and rigid material like glass by evaporating the moisture. This phenomenon is known as the vitrification of heat-denatured proteins. We applied vitrification technology to a collagen gel and converted it into a rigid glass-like material. We attempted to rehydrate the glass-like material and succeeded in preparing a novel stable state of collagen gel that was a thin and transparent membrane with excellent gel strength and protein permeability. We called it "collagen vitrigel" because it was produced from the vitrification process of a traditional hydrogel. Further, a framework-embedded collagen vitrigel membrane that can be easily turned inside out with tweezers was prepared by inserting a nylon membrane ring in the collagen sol prior to the gelation, thereby allowing the membrane to function as a removable cell culture substratum. Different types of anchorage-dependent cells could be cultured on both surfaces of the substratum by the manipulation of two-dimensional cultures, and consequently a three-dimensional crosstalk model with paracrine effects from each cell type was reconstructed. Also, the collagen vitrigel membrane containing a bioactive molecule provided a drug delivery system (DDS) with sustainable release. In this review, we summarize the recent progress of applied studies using the collagen vitrigel membrane as follows: a corneal model for eye irritant and permeability tests, a skin model for sensitization test, a renal glomerular model for evaluating blood filtration, an endometrial model for developing a new treatment and a DDS of hepatocyte growth factor for improving liver disorder.
Takezawa
Toshiaki
T
Transgenic Animal Research Center, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Ibaraki, Japan. t.takezawa@affrc.go.jp
Fukuda
Maya
M
McIntosh-Ambrose
Winnette
W
Ko
Ji-Ae
JA
Elisseeff
Jennifer
J
Haga
Sanae
S
Ozaki
Michitaka
M
Kato
Kiyoko
K
Wang
Pi-Chao
PC
Uchino
Tadashi
T
Nishida
Teruo
T
D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D003094:Collagen; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D055808:Drug Discovery; D005782:Gels; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008954:Models, Biological; D019899:Paracrine Communication; D011489:Protein Denaturation
D005782:Gels; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D003094:Collagen