title: The mechanical stimulation of cells in 3D culture within a self-assembling peptide hydrogel.
abstract: The aim of this present study was to provide a scaffold as a tool for the investigation of the effect of mechanical stimulation on three-dimensionally cultured cells. For this purpose, we developed an artificial self-assembling peptide (SPG-178) hydrogel scaffold. The structural properties of the SPG-178 peptide were confirmed by attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The mechanical properties of the SPG-178 hydrogel were studied using rheology measurements. The SPG-178 peptide was able to form a stable, transparent hydrogel in a neutral pH environment. In the SPG-178 hydrogel, mouse skeletal muscle cells proliferated successfully (increased by 12.4 ± 1.5 times during 8 days of incubation; mean ± SEM). When the scaffold was statically stretched, a rapid phosphorylation of ERK was observed (increased by 2.8 ± 0.2 times; mean ± SEM). These results demonstrated that the developed self-assembling peptide gel is non-cytotoxic and is a suitable tool for the investigation of the effect of mechanical stimulation on three-dimensional cell culture.
authors: Cardiovascular Physiology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Japan.
authors: Yusuke
authors: Y
authors: Nagai
authors: Hidenori
authors: H
authors: Yokoi
authors: Keiko
authors: K
authors: Kaihara
authors: Keiji
authors: K
authors: Naruse
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / Q000737:chemistry*; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System; D051379:Mice; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D032446:Myoblasts / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D012212:Rheology; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; C000622251:SPG-178; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate